


Long Nights

by humeurvagabonde



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alice in Borderland AU, Alternate Timelines, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Asexual Character, Attempt at Humor, Boo Seungkwan-centric, Cognitive Dissonance, Doubt, Everyone Is Gay, Feelings Realization, Fights, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jun and Chan are like brothers, Jun and Minghao are so in love it makes me sick, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi & Lee Jihoon | Woozi Are Best Friends, Lee Chan | Dino-centric, M/M, Matter of Life and Death, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please read lol, Protective Hyungs, Seungkwan is asking a lot of questions, Survival Horror, Temporary Character Death, Wen Jun Hui | Jun-centric, chan is everyone's baby, i am a chanhoon trash this ship is so underrated, mention of others idols and kpop groups, not physical fight but like talking, tw blood, tw fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humeurvagabonde/pseuds/humeurvagabonde
Summary: Chan wakes up one day, feeling anxious. There is no electricity and Seoul is empty, almost everyone disappeared. The only way to stay alive is to gain days on its VISA. And to gain days, you need to play games.Chan wants to save everyone. In this timelapse, and in all the others too.Alice in Borderland AU (but with some changes)(i put 15 chap in total but it may be longer actually)WEEKLY UPDATES
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Boo Seungkwan/Everyone, Lee Chan & Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Lee Chan | Dino/Everyone, Lee Chan | Dino/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Everyone, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 21
Kudos: 34





	1. the stars are looking straight down on us

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language.
> 
> Title of the 1st chap from Rocket - Seventeen.

It was supposed to be a normal morning. Chan would wake up, complain about how Seungkwan had eaten all his cereals once again and then proceed to go practice with everyone. But, waking up, the youngest felt a weird feeling surrounding him. He frowned and tried to get up from his bed just to collapse on the floor in a loud sound. He hadn’t even noticed he was crying but as soon he did, he found himself unable to breathe. He cried louder, freezing, suddenly feeling both too cold and too hot at the same time and tried to stand up by himself only to end up on the floor again. Alerted by the noise, the other members entered his room, worried. Jihoon opened the door first, his eyes directly looking into Chan’s. He bent down to face the youngest and spoke calmly, trying not to make him more anxious. 

“Hey, Channie. What’s happening ?”

It was hard for Chan not to break down again. He didn’t even know what was happening. It must be nothing, it had to be nothing. There were so many more things to do, for the group’s activities, for the songs, for everything and- and why did Chan feel like nothing would happen again ? The thought of him not being able to be on stage, not being able to stay with his members, it was too much and he could just cry again. Joshua and Jeonghan looked at each other, worried, not understanding the situation. Jihoon spoke again, he seemed the only one able to talk at the moment.

“Chan, can you try telling us about how you feel ? Would it help you ?”

Chan was hesitant, not really trusting his voice, but trying nevertheless because his hyungs were worried, his brothers, his family. 

“I don’t want to stop being an idol !”

Silence. Seungcheol was trying to remember if any newspaper talked about them the days before, remember everything that could help them understand. Chan spoke again.

“-I want to do TV shows, sing and rap, dance again and be able to see our fans ! I don’t want to be alone, to feel alone, to let others down, I don’t want you to..

-To what, sweetheart ?”

Chan took a long inspiration and tried not to continue his sentence. He didn’t know why he was saying all of this, he just felt as he needed to. Almost as a matter of life and death. He looked at every person surrounding him and saw how everyone was worried for him. It didn’t happen a lot of times, because the hyungs were always bickering and gently fighting with him but he knew they deeply cared for him. Jihoon took his hands in his to show him his support and Chan just felt breathless once again.

“I don’t want you to die.”

It was a murmur and Jihoon would have surely missed it if he hadn’t focused on the youngest since the beginning. Mingyu’s eyes widened and Jihoon squeezed his hand tighter. 

“Is it what scares you ? Did you have a bad dream about one of us dying ?”

Seungkwan looked at Jihoon, surprised at how the older was managing the situation. A true leader, indeed. 

“N- no ! It’s just.. It’s just that I have a bad feeling ! I think we’ll not be able to perform and stay together and be safe in the near future ! I can feel it !”

Soonyoung spoke, trying to cheer up the mood a bit.

“Ay, what do you mean not able to perform ? Wanna do a karaoke now to see if we can’t perform again ?”

He didn’t have the time to speak more, the lights of the room turned suddenly off and the distant noise of the fridge stopped. Wonwoo tried to turn on the light again but failed. The only light was the dim light from the early morning coming from the window. 

“The power ran off. Maybe it’s the rain..?”

Chan felt himself passing out on the carpet and didn’t hit the floor only thanks to Jihoon, who was still carrying him. 

“-Chan, Chan, what’s happening ? 

-Do we need to go to the hospital ?!”

Chan tried to hold back his tears but it was just getting worse. Joshua told him not to contain his emotions and Chan broke down, yelling, crying again, half trying to hold onto Jihoon and half trying to get to the light.

“I want to turn on the light ! I don’t want to stay like this ! Why is there no light ? WHY IS THERE NO LIGHT !”

Jun had bent down too, next Jihoon, and was trying to carry the youngest too. Everyone was worried, Seungkwan had linked hands with Jeonghan and Hansol was resting his head on Seokmin’s shoulder. Chan was yelling, gasping for air. He lifted his head and, dead looking in Minghao’s eyes, raised his arm, gesturing to point at everyone at the same time but no one in particular.

“-I’m gonna save you ! I don’t want you to die !

-Channie, no one is going to die ! The power just ran off, it happened before !

-NO WE ARE GOING TO DIE AND I-”

Chan tried to stand up but turned pale and ended up fainting in Jihoon’s arms. Jihoon picked him and put him on his bed without a word. Minghao was the first to break the silence. 

“What the fuck just happened ?”

Seungcheol didn’t even try to tell him not to use bad words. Everyone was too shocked for these kinds of things.

“-Do you think it’s just a bad dream ?

-I don’t know, I’m not sure. I never saw him like this before, right ?

-Even when the CEO was yelling against us during trainee days !”

Jihoon was quiet, sitting near Chan, who was still holding his hyung’s hand. Joshua had gone to search wet towels and was humidifying the youngest’s face and neck while Jeonghan was stroking his hair. 

“-It’s weird to see him like this. He’s always so cheerful, confident, I was sure that nothing can scare him.”

While the others were speaking, trying to understand the situation, Jun frowned and got cold sweats watching Chan laying on the bed, pale. He looked so young, so cold, so hurt. Closing his eyes, he tried to refrain the thought that the younger seemed almost dead. 

  
  


x

  
  


When Chan woke up the second time in the morning, he was laying in his bed. A glass of water, a little plastic bag and a post-it waiting for him on the table. He got up and sat on the edge of the bed and read the note.

  
  


_ Honey, here is your favorite pastry from your favorite baker. We’re in the living room, feel free to come when you feel the need to. Don’t forget to drink water ! _

_ Love you _

_ Jihoon Hyung _

  
  


Chan drank the water, stood up, took the pastry and began to eat as he made his way to the living room. It was a bit dark and Chan supposed that the power was still off. 

Mingyu was sitting on the sofa while Wonwoo was half resting on his shoulder, reading a book. Hansol and Seungkwan were sitting on a mountain of pillows, on the floor, watching some drama that the computer was playing. Chan frowned.

“Did the power come back ?”

The four of them jumped and Seunkgwan turned back to watch Chan.

“-No, that’s my DVDs of Meteor Garden. How do you feel ?

-Good, I think ?”

It sounds more like a question because, the truth was, Chan wasn’t really feeling better. Sure, he wasn’t in a paranoiac crisis anymore but he felt exhausted and just wanted to sleep for ten years. Also, the bad feeling he had before was still here. Chan heard a sound and shaked his head a little, trying to go back to reality. Joshua was in front of him, snapping his fingers.

“Earth to Channie, do you hear me ? Sweetheart ?”

It was so hard to breathe but Chan managed to inhale and nodded a little.

“-Yes, I’m good. Where are the others ?”

-In their rooms, probably. Jeonghan is making hot chocolates with chamallows.”

Chan didn’t know if it was Joshua’s sweet smile or the scent of Jeonghan’s chocolate coming from the kitchen but he felt himself crying a bit again. Chan hadn’t even noticed Jun but soon he found himself engulfed in one of his big hugs. Jun was stroking his hair, singing some chinese lullaby and Chan let himself drown in the embrace. He felt 14 again, when he couldn’t go on his class trips because he had to practice. Jun picked him up and put him on the sofa, next to Mingyu and Wonwoo. By the time Jun had finished singing, everyone was back in the living room and Jeonghan gave hot chocolates to each member.

“-Channie, you need to talk about what happened before. I never saw you having a panic attack like this.

-Was it even a panic attack ?”

Everyone turned to Minghao.

“I mean, it didn’t seem like one. Isn’t it a.. what’s the word again ?”

Minghao asked for the korean word to Jun but the older didn’t seem to know either.

“-Like, when you think something is happening but in reality it doesn’t ?”

Chan nodded, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Minghao took his phone to search the translation but frowned.

“No service ?”

Jihoon, sitting near Chan, felt the other tensed up and stroked his hand.

“It’s going to be okay Channie, it’s nothing serious. We had heavy rain that probably damaged a lot of things, okay ?” 

But Chan wasn’t having any of this. Something was happening. He could feel it. He stood up and as he went to sit by the window, a thunderbolt was heard. He opened the window and below was.. nothing. Nothing ? Chan rubbed his eyes and watched again. Nothing. Some cars were stopped in the middle of the road but no one was here to drive them. No power, no people. Impossible. Chan spoke with a little voice, asking for help.

“Jihoon hyung, Jihoon hyung, what’s happening ? Jihoon hyung I-”

Jihoon took his hand and watched the window too as he frowned.

“Guys, something is happening, like, for real ? There are no people in the streets.”

Soonyoung answered, trying not to sound worried.

“-Ay, what do you mean ? The road is one of the most frequented ! 

-I know ! Just come and watch by yourself if you don’t believe me.”

Soonyoung stood up and came by the window slowly, suddenly less talkative. He gasped as he watched the city lifeless. 

“-Did the newspapers talk about a fire drill for Seoul yesterday ? 

-We may have missed it ! 

-We have to go out and see what’s happening.”

Everyone turned to Jun. The one who was always laughing, making pranks, acting careless now sounded so serious. He talked again.

“We are going to make groups. The hip hop team should check every room of the building, try to search for anything or anyone you can find. The vocal team can go to the downtown, try to find any public transports or anything that can help us. The performance team is going to the train station. We’ll see there if there are emergency trains, or something that can help.”

Chan was the first to talk, his voice clearly unstable and he sounded just like a lost child. 

“-Jun hyung, I want to stay with Jihoon hyung..

-Then he can come with us, if he’s okay with that.”

Everyone looked at Chan, and Chan looked at Jihoon, eyes full of hope.

“-Please ?

-Of course I’ll come.”

Chan managed to smile and took the other’s hand in his. No one tried to defy Jun’s authority. He never did such a thing before, and all of them needed some help and instructions. Jun nodded.

“Don’t move, I have to take something.”

He left for barely a minute and came back with three bags in his hand. He gave one to Jeonghan, one to Seungcheol and one to Soonyoung. The last one bent his head and tried to look in the bag.

“Each bag contains a torch with batteries, we have to save our phone’s batteries. I feel like the power won’t come back soon. You also have a bottle of water, a few snacks, papers and pens. Never stay alone and try not to split groups. If something feels weird, don’t go. If anything happens, or if you feel the need to write something, you can use the papers. Be careful of the cold, and try not to be easily identified.”

Joshua broke the silence.

“Why are you doing this, Jun ? I mean, how do you manage to think straight like this ?”

Jun cracked a smile, pretending not to hear the quiet “It’s the only straight thing in him” from Seungkwan.

“-I watch a lot of Chinese horror movies. I may have nightmares but now I know what to do in these kinds of situations.

-Ho- horror movies ?!”

Chan shivered and Jihoon pulled him closer, stroking his hair slowly.

“It’s gonna be okay Chan, don’t worry.”

Chan nodded, trying hard to trust the other boy but still feeling unsafe. Jun petted his hair with a reassuring smile.

“Everyone, let’s go !” 

He looked at his watch and spoke again.

“It’s eleven, we should be back at one, two hours seem enough for now. Questions ?”

Silence. Jun took his sweat and went out first. Seungcheol looked at the others, everyone was a bit shocked, and tried to make a joke.

“-What happened to him ? Why do I feel like he’s the one being the leader now ?”

Minghao didn’t catch the irony and answered seriously as he was searching for his own coat.

“-Remember when we filmed Chao Yin Zhan Ji, in China ? Jun acted the same when he felt like everyone needed it. I think it’s his way to control the situation.”

Then, he left again, yelling something in mandarin, probably asking Jun to wait for him. 

Seungkwan laughed, finished to drink his hot chocolate, spinned on himself and talked as if he was the MC of some funny show.

“Welcome everyone to our show, Going Seventeen ! Today, we are going to find clues of the situation happening, because everything is weird ! Of course, the vocal team is going to be the best ! But our leader Jihoon hyung betrayed us for another team ! What will happen to us without him ?”

As he talked, Seungkwan had put the back of his hand on his forehead and looked like a comedian on the scene. When he heard Chan’s laugh, he knew it was worth it.

Soon, almost everyone was outside the apartment, trying to find anything, any clues they could find. Hansol left last, not paying attention to the apartment. Maybe, if he had, he would have seen a little red light blinking from a corner of the ceiling. 


	2. i've already come too far, suddenly none of this is a game anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said weekly update but I think I wrote enough to post two this week. Enjoy !
> 
> Title of the chapter from Playing With Fire - Blackpink

Everything was empty. The shops, the streets, the train station. Chan was walking without paying attention to the road in front of him. All he could think of was questions, endless questions about the situation. Why ? How ? Who ? Everything was empty but Chan’s emotions were burning him from the inside. Fear. Chaos. Anxiety. Fear again. Then, a hand in his. He turned back and found Soonyoung, watching him with a smile. 

“-Ay, maknae ! Where do you think you’re going ? Jun said not to walk alone !

-I’m not alone. Jihoon hyung is..”

Chan frowned. Where did Jihoon go ? 

“-Jihoon isn’t here. He was with Minghao and he asked me where you were, so I lied saying I knew.

-Why did you do that ?

-Because he would have been scared otherwise. You care for him and he cares for you. I knew you wouldn’t be far away.

-Thank you, hyung.”

Soonyoung ruffled his hair and laughed. 

“-What’s with you and Jihoon, by the way ? The two of you seem pretty close these days !”

The older winked and Chan blushed.

“-No- nothing ! What do you mean ?

-You’re looking at them the same way Hansol looks at Seungkwan. 

-I’m no- wait, what ? You know about them ?

-So it’s official ! I was wondering if they were really that oblivious to their feelings.”

Chan didn’t know if he could tell the other about this, but he decided to trust Soonyoung.

“-They have been for a while, to be honest. But don’t tell anyone ! I’m the only one to know !

-Ay, I won’t tell anyone, you can trust me. I can’t believe you’re the only one they told ! 

-Perks of being everyone’s favorite maknae then.”

Soonyoung smiled brighter, side-hugging Chan. 

“-I’d rather see you making jokes and being sarcastic. You scared us so much this morning.

-I’m sorry hyung.

-Don’t apologize, I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. We often forget you’re younger than all of us. But we love you so much, right ?

-I know, I love you all too.”

Soonyoung laughed a bit and took Chan’s hand as they walked by to the train station. They walked for ten minutes and found Jihoon and Minghao. 

“-Where is Jun ?

-He’s not with you ?

-No..

-He was the one who told us not to split groups and not to walk alone.

-Do you think something happened to him ?

-Let’s search for him, I’m sure he’s not far.”

They walked again, this time all together, and ended up spotting Jun in the hall of a building. He was standing alone, turning his back to the road and wasn’t moving. Chan called him first.

“-Jun hyung !”

But Jun didn’t turn. Minghao yelled something in mandarin and he slowly turned back.

“-He looks terrified” whispered Jihoon.

Chan, scared for his hyung, ran to him. Jun’s eyes widened and he didn’t have the time to speak that the younger was in front of him, in the hall. In the building. Jun raised a shaking hand and stroked Chan’s cheek. 

“-Hyung, what happened ?”

And then, a single tear dropped on Jun’s face. Jihoon, Soonyoung and Minghao approached but Jun spoke, his voice was shaking. 

“-No ! Don’t enter. Stay outside. Stay outside the building.

-Why ?

-Don’t come in. You won’t be able to leave.

-W- what do you mean, hyung ?”

Jihoon frowned, trying to understand. Jun took a pin from his jacket and threw it by the door. As soon as the pin crossed the limit of the door, it was shot. Chan froze, getting closer from Jun without even noticing.

“-I’m sorry, Chan. We’ll be okay, but the others have to stay outside for a while, okay ?

-Hyung ?”

Jun turned to Minghao.

“-Honey, please, don’t come. Chan and I will find a way to go out, but for now you need to find the others, okay ? Try to avoid the buildings. They’re not all like this but we never know.”

Minghao had his hand in front of his open mouth and seemed pretty shocked. Jihoon and Soonyoung were still processing. 

“-Please, go. We’ll be okay, I promise. But for now, you need to leave. Please.

-Jihoon hyung, Jun hyung said that you need to leave, so please, go. I trust him. We’ll be back soon, I promise too.”

Jun took Chan’s hand in his own and left, not looking back. They disappeared in the building and Soonyoung was the first to talk out loud. 

“-What is that ?”

Minghao pressed the other’s shoulders lightly.

“-I don’t know. We have to trust them. Come, let’s find the others, okay ? Jihoon hyung ?

-I’m.. coming.”

They left the place, stopping further to look back at the building. What was the point of everything ? 

  
  


x

  
  


Jun and Chan arrived in the building and were shocked to find other people. They recognized Taehyung, Jisoo and three other people they knew were idols too. Jisoo was the first to talk. 

“-I guess the same thing happened to all of us ? All of sudden, no power. Then, no one in the streets. Then, you came here and found you couldn’t leave ?”

Chan nodded, not trusting his voice. Suddenly, a neon light flashed. 

  
  


_ Game arena, this way ! _ with an arrow.

  
  


Taehyung frowned. Game ? Jun was the first to move.

“-Come, Chan. I guess we don’t really have another choice. Once you cross the borderline of the area, you can never return. You can only play.”

Soon, everyone followed. They found a table with phones. 

  
  


_ 1 per person _ said the sign. 

  
  


Jun took one for him and one for Chan. A robotic voice came from one of the phones.

  
  


_ Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. Please wait until the game commences. Two minutes until registration closes. _

  
  


“-Registration ?! I don’t want to play a game ! I want to go out ! 

-Don’t you understand ? You have to win the game if you want to go out. That’s the victory.

-What’s the loss then ?”

Jun shivered.

“-I don’t want to think about this. Do the phones have any service ?

-No, I tried. You can just stay on the app game. 

-It just looks like a poker game. You have a card and your name. And a number.”

  
  


_ Tilt ! Registration has closed. The game will now commence. GAME : “DEAD OR ALIVE”. Difficulty : Three of Clubs. Rule : Select the correct door within the stipulated time. Clear condition. The goal is to leave the building within the time limit. Please, go into the elevator. _

  
  


This time, Jisoo was the first one to walk. She entered, shaking a bit.

“Are you guys coming ? We need to get out as soon as possible. This place terrifies me.”

Everyone got in and when the doors opened, they were in front of two doors. On the first one was a big poster of a cute magical anime girl, LIVE was written in big letters. On the second one, was a scary black skeleton, DIE was written in big letters. 

“What the fuck is that ?”

  
  


_ GAME : BEGIN. The time limit for this room is : 1 minute 50 seconds. _

  
  


“-Obviously it’s the LIVE door !

-How could you know ? It may be a trap !

-But what if it’s not one ?

-But what if it does ?!”

As the three others were arguing, Jisoo was looking anxiously at the two doors. Chan pulled Jun’s sleeve.

“Jun hyung, what are we going to do ?”

  
  


_ 1 minute 30 seconds remaining. _

  
  


“I don’t know Channie..”

  
  


Taehyung took some steps closer to the DIE door and spoke.

“I think it may be a trap ? The logical thing to do is to choose the LIVE door, no ?

-I don’t know. It can be reversed. Like, they know we’ll think it’s a trap but at the end the right door is the LIVE one ?”

  
  


_ 1 minute remaining. _

  
  


“Don’t you guys smell something ? 

Jisoo looked down and watched with horror smoke coming out from the ground. Chan coughed. 

“We have to do something !” 

  
  


_ 30 seconds remaining. _

  
  


One of the others participants yelled.

“I can’t take this anymore !”

He ran, opened the LIVE door and immediately got shot. Chan’s eyes widened in horror. 

  
  


_ 15 seconds remaining. _

  
  


Chan closed his eyes, trying to breathe properly. He felt someone grab his hand and when he opened his eyes again, he was in another room. He just had the time to see jets of fire coming out from the ground before Jisoo closed the door.

  
  


_ The time limit for this room is : 1 minute and 40 seconds.  _

  
  


Taehyung released Chan’s hand with a little smile and Jun pulled him closer. 

“Thank you. Chan, you have to stay conscious, okay ? I know it’s hard but it’s gonna be okay, I promise. We’ll get out of here. Hyung promises you.”

Jisoo smiled watching the scene.

  
  


_ 1 minute and 20 seconds remaining. _

  
  


One of the others hit his friend and they began to argue.

“-You killed him ! 

-I didn’t do anything ! It was your fault ! You told him that choosing DIE wasn’t the good thing !”

Taehyung sighed and looked at the doors.

“-If DIE was the good door.. then, it must be LIVE this time ?

-It can’t be DIE two times in a row, can it?”

  
  


_ 1 minute remaining. _

  
  


“-Are the words really that important ?”

Everyone went silent and turned to look at Jun, who was getting closer to one of the doors.

“-I mean, maybe the important thing is to make a sacrifice ?

Chan’s eyes widened in horror.

“-What do you mean, hyung ?”

Jun put his hand on the doorknob and stared at Chan.

  
  


_ 30 seconds remaining.  _

  
  


Smoke came out from the floor again.

“-If something happens, I love you.”

Chan screamed in horror, trying to run to Jun but Jisoo and Taehyung catched him. Jun opened the door but nothing happened. 

“-That’s.. the good one ?”

  
  


_ 15 seconds remaining. _

  
  


The two others ran into the room and Taehyung pushed Chan and Jisoo inside the room as well. Jun closed the door and Chan could only hear the sound of the fire coming from the old room. He threw himself in Jun’s arms.

  
  


_ The time limit for this room is : 1 minute and 30 seconds.  _

  
  


“Why did you do that ? Why did you do that ? Did you think about the fact that you could have died ?! What was I gonna say to the others ?! Minghao hyung would have kill me and-”

Jun hugged Chan, stroking his hair.

“Talk less fast, Channie, I can’t understand every word you’re saying. I’m not korean, mmh, did you forget ?”

Chan hugged tighter and apologized.

  
  


_ 1 minute 10 seconds remaining. _

  
  


“-To be honest, I was almost sure I wasn’t going to die.

-What do you mean ?

-I think I got the thing.”

Jisoo stared at him, confused.

“-What do you mean ?

-There was a BMW 523d parked in front of the building. 

-And ?

-One is 4 meters and 94 centimeters. The length of the building is equivalent to four of those cars. This means that this building is approximately 20 meters in length. 

-What the fuck ?

-The rooms must be 6 square meter in size and they are probably square. There can only be three rooms on one side, so... Is there something I can write on ?”

  
  


_ 40 seconds remaining. _

  
  


Jisoo took a notebook and a pen out of her bag and gave it to Jun. He began to draw a map of the building on it, whispering things on mandarin. Chan couldn’t help but think that drawing a map of a place that could be their future coffin with a pink glitter pen was a bit odd.

  
  


20 seconds remaining.

  
  


“-It’s the LIVE door.

-Are you sure ?”

Jun stood up and opened the LIVE door himself. Nothing happened. Everyone got into it.

  
  


_ The time limit for this room is : 1 minute and 20 seconds.  _

  
  


“-How did you know ?

-This isn’t about the words or a sacrifice. We need to get out of the building, so we have to think like this. There are nine rooms in total. Each wrong door leads to a wrong room. We need to avoid the rooms in the middle.”

  
  


_ 50 seconds remaining. _

  
  


“-And now ?

-The DIE one.”

Taehyung opened the door, nothing happened and everyone got into the right room. They reiterated the same action three more times.

  
  


_ The time limit for this room is : 40 seconds.  _

  
  
  


“And now, Jun hyung ? Which one is the good one ?”

Jun looks terrified. Jisoo got closer and put her hand on his shoulder.

“-What’s happening ?

-There should be a door here. But they are on the two other walls. I don’t understand.

-What do you mean ?

-We can’t take the DIE door because it would lead to another building, the two are stuck without space in between.”

  
  


_ 20 seconds remaining. _

  
  


“-What about the LIVE door ?

-It will lead us to the first room, where the first person died.”

Jisoo looked confused and Taehyung tried to think about a solution. Chan spoke with a small voice.

“-What if the rooms aren’t all square ?”

Jun frowned.

“-What do you mean ?

-I mean, all the rooms we got in were square. And the others in the middle are too, we know it because we walked in them before the game. The only room we didn’t entirely see is the room where the first person was shot.”

  
  


_ 10 seconds remaining. _

  
  


Chan didn’t wait for the others to understand and walked to the LIVE door. Jun opened his mouth to speak but Chan opened the door. Nothing happened. 

  
  


_ 5 seconds remaining. _

  
  


“It’s leading to the outside !”

Everyone ran in the street and Jisoo just had time to close the door. The building was burning, but they were outside. 

  
  


_ Tilt ! GAME : CLEAR. Congratulations.  _

  
  


Chan shaked Jun’s arm. 

“-We did it hyung ! We did it !”

Jun smiled. Everyone was on the ground, breathing hard and coughing and no one but Chan realized that there was a table two meters in front of them. He approached it and found a card on it. 

“-Channie, what are you doing ?

-Jun hyung, come and see. There is a Three of Clubs card on the table.”

Jun, Jisoo, Taehyung and the two others came near Chan and looked at the card.

  
  


_ Tilt ! To the survivors of the game, we will now supply you with a three-day VISA. _

  
  


“VISA ?”

Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from the end of the street. A man appeared from one of the building’s corners. He had dirty clothes, messy hair and dried blood on his face. He spoke with a rough voice.

“My VISA ends today. I’m going to.. drop out of the game ! You.. There is no end to this game, no matter how much you clear.”

He knelt and got shot by a red laser. Chan hiccuped.

“-Our VISA will end too at some point ! What about the other members, Jun hyung ?”

Jisoo spoke.

“-Are all of your members in this.. world ? Too ?

-Yes, and you ?

-Yes, us too.

-And you, Taehyung ?

-Us too.”

Jun didn’t take the time to interrogate the two other people and softly pulled Chan against him.

“-We need to find the others members of our groups. They may not have a VISA. We’ll see each other later. Come, Chan.”

Jun bowed and began to walk. Chan bowed too. Jisoo waved her hand with a small smile and Taehyung bowed back. 

Chan and Jun walked for a bit and eventually left the small street to find themselves on the main road again.

“-Hyung, look !”

Jun squinted his eyes and yelled.

“-Minghao ! Jihoon !”

The two silhouettes turned back and, seeing Jihoon, Chan couldn’t contain a small laugh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave kuddos or comments [insert the cute smiley i don't have on my computer]


	3. i fly together with that black wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title of the chap from On - BTS.

“You’re telling me it was a game ?”

All the members were here, sitting in the grass in some park they found. Chan nodded. He was sitting near Jun, since the end of the game he didn’t want to be far from him. 

“Were you alone ?”

Jun looked at Chan and talked.

“-No, we were seven including us.

-Only six at the end.”

Suddenly, everyone looked at Chan. Seungcheol’s eyes widened with horror and he tried to ask more questions, unsure if he actually wanted details. 

“-What do you mean only six at the end ? And who were the other people ?

-Blackpink’s Jisoo, BTS’ Taehyung and I don’t know the other but I’m pretty sure they were idols too. And I said six because one of the others died during the game. Even Jun hyung almost died !”

Jun looked at him with big eyes, trying to use telepathy to tell him not to speak about that. Joshua gasped and Minghao spoke, loudly.

“-What the fuck ?! What do you mean, almost died ?

-He opened a door without knowing if it was the right one !

-I was almost sure it was the right one !

-You didn’t know ! You were making suppositions !”

Minghao tried to be angry but barely managed to understand the topic. What door were they talking about ? Seungkwan yelled, making Jun and Chan to stop talking.

“-We don’t understand ! Explain.”

Jun looked at Chan, silently asking him who should be the one to tell them. Chan nodded again and Jun smiled, stroking his hair.

“-It was a game. We had to enter a room, and then choose one of the two doors. There were posters with LIVE and DIE written on it, but it wasn’t important. We had less than two minutes to make a choice. Not choosing was killing us all with fire and choosing the wrong door meant killing the one who opened it. One of the people we don’t know died like this. 

-Why did Jun almost die ?”

Seungcheol cut Chan’s speech.

“-Minghao, don’t drop the formalities, please.

-I don’t care about this ! I’m not even korean ! Jun is my fucking boyfriend and since he’s stubborn and won’t tell me what happened, I want Chan to tell me !”

Wonwoo stared at Minghao, shocked. He had never seen the other like this. Minghao was usually really calm and respectful of the formalities, even if he and Jun were not koreans. Everyone knew that the two have been dating, but they weren’t used to seeing them act like this, they were pretty silent about their relationship. It was just showing that Minghao was, after all, human. Like all of them. Everyone was shocked and Seungcheol wasn’t even angry. Chan spoke again, having a hard time to support the heavy silence. 

“-Jun opened one of the doors.

-Why did you do that ?

-I was pretty sure to have the right answer.

-But what if..

-I trust Jisoo and Taehyung. I knew they would take care of him.

-But who would have taken care of me ?”

Minghao’s voice was broken, he was almost crying. Jun made a sign with his head and Minghao ran to him, making himself tiny in his boyfriend's arms. The thought of losing Jun was unbearable. Chan spoke again, trying to cheer up the mood. 

"-Jun hyung’s mind is amazing ! He drew a map of the building and managed to find the building’s length only with the length of a car parked in front of it !”

Hansol spoke, trying to understand every detail. 

“-You mean that Jun hyung saved you ?

-Chan saved us too. He was the one to find the solution to the last room.”

Chan blushed while Jihoon spoke, for the first time since the beginning of the story.

“-Really ?

-Yep. At the end, he found the right door and saved us all.”

Jihoon smiled fondly at the younger and Chan smiled widely, but his smile rapidly disappeared.

“-Jun hyung, what about the VISA ?

-The VISA ? What’s that again ?”

Jun covered his mouth with his hand and Chan panicked again. Everyone was lost but Chan and Jun didn’t want to think about the fact that all the members could die as soon as the clock rang midnight. Jun stood up, putting softly Minghao on the ground.

“-We have to check. Did you keep the phone from the game ?”

Chan nodded, giving it to Jun.

“-What are we supposed to do ? Do you think the facial recognition will work ?

-We don’t know unless we try.”

Jun came back to sit near Minghao again and Minghao snuggled against the other. Seokmin smiled softly, it was very rare to see the youngest chinese member like this. Too bad it had to be under these circumstances. Jun put the phone in front of Minghao’s face.

  
  


_ Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. You currently have a : one-day VISA.  _

  
  


Jun sighed, kissing Minghao’s hair, relieved. Chan took the phone and did the same with Jihoon and all the other members. Everyone apart from them had at least one day. Mingyu frowned.

“-What is that supposed to mean ?

-Jun and I gained the game, and the reward was another VISA.”

Jun took the phone and tried.

  
  


_ Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. You won a three-days VISA, congratulations. You currently have a : four-days VISA. _

  
  


Minghao put his head in Jun’s neck, trying to escape the reality. Jeonghan spoke.

“We don’t really have the privilege to see you being this clingy, Minghao.”

Jun laughed a bit, his arm around Minghao’s body. Minghao spoke with a small but calm voice.

“-I can’t imagine living without any of you, in particular Jun hyung. I was able to endure everything thanks to him. He was the only one I could talk to for a while. I love him more than everything.”

Jun teared up and kissed Minghao’s hand.

“-Minghao smells home. He smells chinese medicine and China’s streets.”

Everyone smiled and Joshua chuckled.

“-We have to play again tomorrow, at least all of you unless Jun hyung and me. You need more days on your VISA..

-I know, Chan. We’ll see that tomorrow. Now, we need to find a place to sleep and food.

-We should try to find a garage, I think it would be kind of dangerous to go back to the dorm or to stay in a building. God knows what could happen.

-Right. We could try to find some tents, and wood to make a campfire. And pans, and things to eat.

-Noodles !

-Seungkwan, we ate noodles yesterday ! 

-But we need to gain proteins ! 

-Do you really think proteins come from ramen ? 

-I don’t know..”

Hansol rolled his eyes fondly while Seungkwan was pouting. Everyone loved to watch the two fight like this, it was pretty funny and a good distraction not to think about the situation.

“-We should make teams again, to find everything we need !

-You’re right Channie. Do we keep the same teams from before ?

-I don’t think Minghao will accept being separated from Jun one again.”

Minghao was still against Jun, not paying attention to anything else than his boyfriend. 

“-I don’t think so.”

Chan laughed and spoke again, he seemed in a better mood than earlier.

“-It’s like camping !”

Jihoon stared at Chan and shivered. He tried not to pay attention to the bad feeling he felt. Everything was going to be alright. 

  
  


x

  
  


Everyone was sitting on big plaids. They had managed to find blankets, pillows, tents, food and everything else they needed. Perks of being the survivors in the city, they guessed. They had decided to stay in a big garage they had found. Staying outside would be too dangerous and sleeping in a building meant possibly ending up in a game arena without really wanting it.

“- Jun hyung, where did you put the rice ?

-Behind you.”

Seungcheol, Joshua and Jeonghan were sitting near one of the tents, talking quietly.

“-Don’t you find it weird how Jun had taken care of the situation ?

-It’s true that he wasn’t really panicking.

-Jihoon told me he was very calm when he found out about the game thing..

-You’re talking like he was the one who did this. We’re talking about Junhui ! Not some stranger we don’t know.

-You’re right, Joshua.. I’m just saying his reaction was a bit weird and-

-What are you talking about, hyungs ?”

The three raised their heads to see Chan, standing in front of them, curious about them. Seungcheol opened the mouth to speak but Joshua was faster. And he couldn’t lie. Obviously.

“-Channie, don’t you think it’s weird how Jun has reacted to the situation earlier ?

-What do you mean ?

-Like.. he wasn’t anxious ?”

Chan tilted his head and frowned.

“I don’t understand.”

Jeonghan sighed quietly but Joshua talked again.

“-Everyone was panicking but him.

-Seriously ?”

It was Minghao. Seungcheol closed his eyes for a few seconds. It was going to be difficult. He looked over his shoulder. Jun was trying to cook with Mingyu. Minghao spoke, not too loud but enough to sound scary.

“You can’t understand. When Junhui came to Korea, he was alone, struggling with everything. He wasn’t like you, Joshua hyung, with another friend who can speak his language. He was alone, and when Mingming left, it felt horrible. He was scared, he was just like you all but things were even scarier back then. Remember the scandal with the chinese Super Junior and EXO members ?”

All of them nodded.

“Jun was terrified. One night, I found him crying in his bed. He told me how he was scared we would end up like this. Like them, being taken advantage of, being mistreated by our agency. Being separated from you all. He told me he wanted to break the contract when Mingming left.”

Seungcheol was shocked. He was the leader, and he never knew that.

“But he didn’t. Because he was thinking of you. His family. How he couldn’t leave you because at that time you were everything he had. If Jun should have been anxious every time he felt lost or didn’t fully understand what happened, he would have turned crazy. He doesn’t know everything, of course he’s just like us. He is lost too. He is anxious too. But he is used to that. And me too. We may be fluent in korean, all of this-”

Minghao did vague hand gestures, trying to show everything and nothing at the same time.

“Korea, this isn’t our real home. You guys are, but not the country, not the language, not the culture. It’s still hard for us. We can get over this because we love you and what we’re doing but it’s still hard. Jun usually lets you take care of the situations because you are the oldest, but what he did earlier is just what he does internally everyday. Same goes for me. He just showed it for once because he saw you were panicking.”

Joshua had teary eyes. Seungcheol and Jeonghan didn’t know what to say. They felt stupids to have imagined such a thing. Of course Junhui didn’t do anything bad. Chan spoke.

“When we were in the game.. Jun hyung was so ready to sacrifice his own life to save us. He opened the door and I was so scared and I didn’t want him to die because I love him and-”

Chan was panicking again. Minghao put a hand on his shoulder and managed to help him. By the time, Jun had come closer. 

“-Channie, what are y-”

He was cut by Chan hugging him. Minghao spoke.

“He was telling us again about the game.”

Jun stroked Chan’s hair with a small smile, making the other watch fondly.

“I’m here, Chan, it’s okay. It’s okay, we survived, we went through this and you were so brave. We’re all here to protect you.

-But if you’re protecting everyone, who is going to protect you ?”

Jeonghan shivered, the room suddenly feeling cold. But Jun smiled again and pat Chan’s head. Minghao rolled his eyes and spoke.

“-He got me ! I’m his boyfriend, don’t forget Chan, mmh ?

-Chan, come with me, we’ll dress the table to our first meal in camping !”

Chan laughed, took Jun’s hand in his and they left to the table. In reality, it was more like putting all the blankets in a circle and putting a bowl in front of each one. 

Minghao turned to look at the three older members.

“-You understand, now ?”

Seungcheol nodded, ashamed. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t actually think things like that it’s just.. I don’t know. I should have not thought of something like this in the first place.

-Right.

-You really love him.”

It wasn’t a question but Minghao turned to look at his boyfriend, who was trying to spray water on Soonyoung, laughing. He smiled.

“Of course I do. I can’t wait to marry him.”

Joshua choked on his saliva. 

“You’re thinking of marrying him ?”

Minghao nodded.

“Not now, obviously. Gay marriage is not the best topic to talk about in China. And, we’re obviously kind of in a strange situation and place. But, one day, I hope. It’s just.. 

-He feels like home ?

-He is home.”

One hour later, everyone was sitting, quietly eating their rice and vegetables. Seokmin complained from the lack of meat but Seungkwan reminded him that the more important was eating proteins from the seeds Mingyu put in the rice. 

Suddenly, there was a noise. They all turned to the heavy door which was moving, scared. Soon, a face appeared from behind the door. 

“Hey. Sorry to disturb you, but I heard noise.”

Chan was the first to stand up and ran toward the man.

“Taehyung hyung !”

Jun stood up too, kissing Minghao’s cheek almost unconsciously, and went to meet his friend.

“-What are you doing here ? Are you alone ?

-No, the members are eating in the park near. I just wanted to take a walk. I’m glad to see you find them.

-Did you met Jisoo again ?

-No, but I’m sure everything is fine for her. We’ll probably see her soon.”

The other members were looking at the three, curious, but trying not to interfere. Surviving with someone was probably enough to bond with them. 

“-Do your members have one-day VISA too ?

-Yes, they do.”

Taehyung’s eyes lost their usual sparkle.

“-They’ll have to play. Just like we did.”

Chan side-hugged Taehyung and Jun nodded, sadly. Jihoon stared at them with an indescribable look on his face. The truth is, he felt the jealousy eating his heart. Seeing Chan, his Chan, hugging someone who wasn’t one of the members, was horrible and painful. Soonyoung patted his shoulder with a small smile and quietly whispered.

“-Hoon, Chan is so head over heels for you. They played and almost died together, of course they were going to bond.”

Jihoon blushed slightly.

“-What do you mean, head over heels ?

-Jihoon, seriously ?

-What ?

-Chan has been in love with you since.. I can’t even remember since when. 

-What the fuck do you mean ?

-Oh my God, and here I was asking myself why you weren’t doing any move. You were actually oblivious all this time ?

-Stop talking like I’m not here !

-Chan loves you. Not like a brother. He may play and hug a lot of people, at the end of the day, he’ll still come back to you. Just ask him to date you !”

Jihoon blushed harder, trying to make an abstraction of a teasing Soonyoung next to him. Would it be okay to waste the leftover of his rice to throw it on his best friend's head ? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave kudos or comments if you liked !


	4. i don’t want my fate to be like it’s destined to lose you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> title of the chap from kris wu - eternal love

Chan was staring at the ceiling above him, his eyes wide opened. He was hearing Soonyoung’s light snoring and Hansol sleep-talking. He caught his watch and tried to read the time under a ray of moon. Two. It was the middle of the night, but Chan couldn’t sleep. This day has been the longest day ever and it has been ever more exhausting than his first TV live as an idol. He decided to stand up and carefully made his way outside the garage trying not to make any noise. 

Chan was finally outside when he spotted a shape not far away. He walked quietly but found out it was Jun, sitting on a bench. Jun smiled fondly and spoke.

“-Hey Channie. What are you doing here ?

-I can’t sleep. And you ?

-Same. I was looking at the sky. Without the lights, you can see all the stars !”

Chan raised his head, Jun was right. The night sky was beautiful. He sat near his friend and put his head on the other’s shoulder. 

“-Earlier in the day, Joshua hyung asked me if-

-I know.

-What do you mean, you know ?

-Minghao told me. 

-Really ?

-Did you really think he wouldn’t ? He has been my boyfriend for years.”

Chan hummed, sadly.

“-Are you angry at them ?

-No.

-Why ?

-You’re asking a lot of questions, Chan.

-Sorry hyung.

-That’s okay. I’m not mad because we are not in a normal situation. I know they trust me and they weren’t implying I am linked to everything going on. 

-Mmh..

-Thank you for defending me.

-Minghao hyung also told you that ?”

Jun didn’t answer but winked at Chan. 

“-Wanna take a little walk ? Or you want to go back trying to sleep ?

-A walk is good. I’m gonna combust if I go back to the garage.

-That’s what I was thinking. Come, let’s go.”

Both stood up and began to walk. They didn’t talk a lot, but it was fine just like this. They walked for fifteen minutes before being arrested by two girls. 

“-Hey ! Junhui, Chan, right ?”

Chan frowned. Chaeyoung and..?

“-Tzuyu !

-Jun !”

The girl with long hair hugged Jun with a small smile. Chan turned to his friend.

“-You know her ?

-She’s from Taiwan.”

Chan nodded again and smiled at the two girls. 

“Hey. What are you doing ?”

Chaeyoung looked at Tzuyu, waiting for the other to speak.

“-Actually, we’re recruiting people.

-What do you mean ?

-We.. Ah, how can I say that. Chaeyoung, help !”

Chaeyoung stayed still, probably trying to search for her words. A few seconds passed before she began to speak.

“-We have a proposition for you, but this implies that you must not tell anyone from your group.

-Not even your boyfriend, Jun !”

Chan looked at Jun in horror. 

“Hyung, how does she KNOW ?!”

Jun shrugged.

“It’s Tzuyu.”

Chan rolled his eyes.

“Very helpful, thanks.”

Tzuyu laughed a little.

“-Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Jun is my friend. 

-Okay, I trust you. 

-About the thing.. It’s like a job.

-A job ? We already have a job..? We’re like, famous worldwide artists ? And you are too ?”

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes.

“-I know ! But this one is different. 

-You guys have a lot of members right ? Just like us. Don’t you want to protect them ?

-What do you mean ?

-We’re working as dealers.

-You’re selling DRUGS ?!

-No ! Chan, for God’s sake, please, listen until the end.

-Sorry, sorry. 

-Dealers, in this situation, don’t sell drugs. Dealers are people working for the Game’s Master. We’re helping at creating the games. 

-Who’s the Game’s Master ?

-The person who did all of this.

-You know who did this ?!

-No ! We’re never speaking to them directly. We are receiving instructions, and we follow them. And we gain a lot of days for our VISA. 

-How will that help us at protecting the members ? 

-You can split up the days you receive. Or keep them for you. Whatever you decide, that’s possible.

-Does it mean we still have to play the games ?

-Yes, but you won’t die. Unless you reveal that you’re a dealer. 

-Is it not what you’re doing now ?

-No, we’re recruiting people.”

Chan turned to Jun. The older was lost in his own thoughts, looking at nothing in particular. Chan frowned. He wasn’t expecting his friend to think for real. Chaeyoung spoke again, as if she was able to listen to their thoughts.

“-You don’t have to answer now, we’ll give you some time to think. 

-You’re probably thinking we’re bad people. But, we are doing this for our members. Chan, you’re the maknae as well, right ?

-Yes, I am.

-I am too. I don’t want to see my members, my family, dying in front of me. And if that means doing bad things then I’m willing to risk it. 

-They don’t ask questions ?

-They have a lot. We were the first to play, so we just told them we played more and that we were used to this. Some members played too, but not as much as us. 

-We are never keeping the days for ourselves.”

Jun nodded, thinking. Tzuyu spoke again.

“-I wonder if the same thing happened in China, or in Taiwan.

-I hope it didn’t. I want my little brother to be safe.”

Tzuyu nodded and patted Jun’s shoulder with a small smile. Chan looked at them. Foreigners idols were always seeming homesick to him. Tzuyu’s eyes were full of nostalgia, just the same as Jun right now.

“-We have to go, but please, think about it. And don’t tell anyone. Not even Minghao, mmh ?

-Yeah, I won’t. Don’t really want to die you know.”

Tzuyu stuck her tongue out and Jun rolled his eyes.

“God, I’m surrounded by kids.”

Chaeyoung smiled slowly and the two girls bowed. Chan and Jun did the same. Jun hugged Tzuyu briefly and they left. They walked in silent, both thinking. They arrived in front of the bench they sat on earlier and Jun looked at Chan.

“You don’t have to answer but, please, just don’t tell anyone. If you want to talk, I will be here, mmh ?”

Chan nodded vigorously and Jun laughed quietly. 

“Good. Let’s go, we still need to sleep a little.”

Jun opened the door slowly and they made their way inside. Chan watched as Jun lay down next to Minghao and the younger unconsciously hugged him in his sleep. Jun smiled fondly, kissed his forehead and closed his eyes. Chan couldn’t help but think that lying to Minghao would be hard for Jun. He began to walk toward his couch but stopped in front of Jihoon. He was sleeping peacefully and Chan felt his heart explode with cuteness. It was rare to see Jihoon like this so Chan lay down near him, snuggling against the other’s warm body. Chan caught Jun staring at him with a big smile and the older winked at him. Chan blushed and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. 

  
  


x

  
  


When Jihoon woke up, he felt someone near him. He opened his eyes, ready to fight whoever has made their way on his couch during the night. He turned back only to bump into Chan. Oh. Chan was against him, his head hidden onto his back, sleeping. Jihoon didn’t have the strength to disturb him and just ended up going back to sleep. For once, they didn't have to wake up early to practice. 

Two hours later, Jihoon felt himself being woken up, again. He opened his eyes, yawning. Soonyoung was sitting in front of him, a big smile on his face, and Jihoon had never wanted to hit someone this hard. He growled, rubbing his eyes.

“-What is thit, again, Soonyoung ? It’s too early for you to talk to me.

-Technically, you were the first to talk.”

Jihoon glared angrily at the other man, who didn’t seem the least concerned at all.

“-I saw you sleeping with Chan this morning.

-I know, I woke up like this and I didn’t want to disturb him. Wait, where is he ?

-Don’t worry, he’s making breakfast with Seokmin.”

Jihoon turned to the kitchen, who was more like a single pan with a stove. Chan was laughing with Seokmin, cutting some bread. He beamed brighter than the sun overhead. Soonyoung laughed seeing Jihoon blushing. 

“-Why don’t you tell him ?

-I don’t know. I’m not even sure he likes me too. And with everything happening..”

Soonyoung nodded. He understood how his friend felt and didn’t want to force anything on him and tried to change the subject.

“-Did you see Minghao this morning ?

-No, why ?

-He’s all clingy to Jun, look.”

Jihoon turned to follow Soonyoung’s eyes. Jun was sitting on an old couch, gazing absently. Minghao was against him, stroking his cheek gently, whispering words in mandarin.

“-Jun looked really tired. 

-Chan seems pretty tired too. Do you think it’s about the game ?

-I don’t know. Don’t you feel guilty ?

-Guilty ? Why ?

-Because.. We’re the leaders. It should have been us. Not Chan, the youngest in the group, nor Jun, the softest. 

-I know. But it’s too late now.”

Minguy said that breakfast was ready. Minghao poked Jun’s cheek a few times before the older one reacted. All the members gathered and Chan began to serve everyone. Suddenly, as he was serving Jun, Chan dropped the bowl he was holding. Jun shivered and Chan didn’t make a move. Everyone looked at them.

“-Oh my god hyung I’m so sorry !”

Jun smiled and patted the younger’s shoulder before picking up the glass’ pieces. Minghao let out a noise and took Jun’s hands in his.

“-What are you doing ? You can’t pick glass like this, you’ll hurt yourself !

-I can do it.

-No, you-

-I said, I can do it !”

Minghao froze. Jun never yelled. Chan looked at him, eyes filling with tears. Jun spoke again.

“-I’m sorry, I.. I’m sorry. You’re right, I can hurt myself, but I’ll be careful. I can pick up the shattered pieces by myself.”

Minghao nodded, still unsure of what to do. 

“-I’ll help you, hyung !”

Jun simply nodded. Minghao frowned.

“-You don’t want me to help you but you’re okay with Chan ?

-I don’t want you to get hurt.

-But you’re okay with Chan hurting himself ?

-I’ll help him.

-Does it mean you won’t help me if I am hurt ?”

The silence felt heavy and suffocating for everyone. No one dared to move or speak. Jun turned back and looked at Minghao.

“-You know I will. I’m just making sure you won’t get hurt in the first place.”

Minghao didn’t seem like answering. Jihoon looked at Chan. Him and Jun began to pick up the pieces and once everything was cleaned, Jun stood up.

“-I am not hungry anymore. I’m going outside for a bit.

-Hyung !

-Don’t worry Channie. I’ll stay on the bench, okay ?”

Chan didn’t have another choice than nodding and sat near Minghao. Wonwoo began to eat and everyone followed. Jihoon frowned. Why does it feel like the conversation hasn’t really been about glass anymore ? A few minutes passed and Minghao stood up. Jeonghan raised his head.

“-Hao, what are you-

-Sorry. I have to.. talk to Jun. I- We’re coming back soon.”

He left and Chan spoke with a small voice.

“Are they going to fight because of me ?”

Jeonghan side-hugged him while Joshua answered.

“He said ‘We’. They love each other so much, it’s gonna be okay.”

Chan nodded and began to eat. Seungcheol’s eyes crossed Jihoon’s one and the leader smiled, mouthing a “Don’t worry”.

Fifteen minutes after the little accident, the door opened, the loud sound reverberating in the garage. Everyone tried to look at Jun and Minghao, trying not to seem too obvious. Minghao was radiant, his hand tying to Jun’s. 

“We know you’re looking, you’re not really discreets.”

Hansol laughed.

“-Sorry. Is everything okay ?

-Yes, don’t worry.

-In fact, things couldn’t get better.”

Minghao made a thumbs up to Hansol. Seungkwan frowned and squealed. Jeonghan ran to him, worried.

“Honey, what’s happening, what-”

Seungkwan interrupted him, running to Jun and Minghao. He stopped in front of them and smiled widely.

“For real ?!”

Seokmin frowned, trying to understand what the hell Seungkwan was talking about. Minghao just smiled too and nodded. Seungkwan squealed again and engulfed the both of them in a big hug. 

“-Can someone enlighten me on what’s happening ? Or am I the only one lost ?

-I am too Seokmin, don’t worry..”

Seungkwan took a step back.

“-Show them ! They don’t see !

-See what ?”

Minghao showed his hand. A ring was shining on his finger. Jihoon’s eyes widened.

“-What ?!”

Jun blushed slightly and Minghao’s eyes were sparkling.

“-Jun proposed to me.”

Chan and Hansol yelled in joy, running to the couple. Hansol and Seungkwan were looking at the ring and Chan was hugging Jun while laughing. The other members, shocked, still hadn’t moved. Joshua talked with a smile.

“I can’t believe yesterday Minghao told us he would marry Jun and now they’re engaged !”

Jun turned to Minghao, surprised.

“You really told them that ?”

Minghao nodded, his cheeks turning red. Jun left his chin with his hand and kissed him passionately, making everyone cheered and whistled. Jun ended the kiss and looked fondly at Minghao.

“-I love you.

-I love you too, fiancé.”

Seungkwan squealed again and the other members all ran to them to see the ring and congratulate them. Jihoon looked at Minghao’s hand unconsciously stroking the ring. Then, he looked at Chan and smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy ! sorry for my mistakes. don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments :)


	5. i can’t even find myself, where is the end to this trauma ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title of the chapter from svt hip hop team - trauma

Jun and Chan were sitting together on the bench near the garage. It had become their new place, to stay together and think. All the others were playing games and the two were waiting anxiously. Neither of them has said goodbye. They didn’t want to think about the fact that one of them could possibly never come back.

“-I wanted to go with Minghao. I really wanted to. But he said it would make him too anxious.

-Jihoon hyung said the same.”

They stayed silent a few minutes before Chan talked again.

“-Have you thought about.. 

-Yes, I did, obviously. And you ?

-I did too. 

-And.. ?

-I don’t know. I don’t want to work for the people who put us in this. It sucks.”

Jun smiled softly. 

“-Seungcheol hyung would scold you for talking like this.

-He’s not even here.”

There was a silence again. Chan looked like he wanted to say something but since he didn’t talk, Jun did.

“-Hey, I know it’s going to sound weird but..

-Wanna play again ?”

Jun froze but smiled softly.

“-That’s what I wanted to ask you.”

Chan stood up and Jun followed. They began to walk, not really knowing where to go.

“-I think we should just walk and we’ll find an area.

-We can’t do much more.”

Chan nodded. They walked for ten minutes before finding a neon light, just the same as the first they saw the day before. The light was blinking, probably to draw attention. They followed the sign and ended up in front of a residence. They entered without waiting. A few people were already there, some of them looking anxious. Jun showed a table to Chan. There were phones on it with the same _1 per person_ sign. Jun took one first. An automatic voice came from the phone and it felt like he was already used to it. 

  
  


_Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. Please wait until the game commences. Two minutes until registration closes._

  
  


Chan took the time to look at the people around him. He knew almost all of them, some faces looking familiar but he couldn’t really recall a name. One person was leaning against the wall but their face was hidden under a cap and a hood. 

  
  


_Tilt ! Registration has closed. The game will now commence. GAME : “A GAME OF TAG”. Difficulty : Five of Spades._

  
  


“-Spades ?

-It means it’s a physical game.”

Chan turned to the boy who just talked. He frowned. He wasn’t sure about his name. Jun answered for him.

“-The type of game depends on the card ?

-Club refers to a team battle. Diamond is for a battle of wits. 

-And Heart ?

-Ah, the most troublesome one. 

-Trouble..?

-It’s a game of betrayal, where you play with people’s hearts.”

Jun put his arm around Chan and spoke again.

“-And the number is for the difficulty ?

-You got it. The higher the number, the more difficult is the game.”

  
  


_Tilt ! Rule : Run away from the tagger. Clear condition. Find the safe zone hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. Time limit : 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the hidden bomb in the building will explode._

  
  


Chan stared at Jun with horror. Maybe playing against wasn’t a good idea. Jun’s face wasn’t showing any emotion. 

  
  


_Two minutes until the game begins._

  
  


“-Hyung, there are probably at least 400 rooms in the building ! What are we going to do ?

-Our best, as usual.”

Jun took Chan’s hand and they climbed up the stairs. The corridors were all related to each other and there was a big hole in the middle of the building with a big vis-a-vis. You could watch anything and be watched by everyone at the same time. Chan noticed the person with the cap going into the elevator. Jun and him stopped at the 7th floor. 

  
  


_GAME : BEGIN_

  
  


Jun stroke Chan’s back. 

“-We’re going to make it, don’t worry. We’ll see Minghao and Jihoon tonight.”

Chan blushed at the mention of Jihoon but nodded. It wasn’t the time to think about him. He had to focus on the game. Jun pulled them against the wall and turned to Chan. He put a finger on his mouth, silently telling him not to make a sound. Chan nodded and looked everywhere he could. He saw some of the other participants trying to hide the best they could. At the top, at the last floor and in a corner, was the person with the cap. Chan was far but he could tell it was a girl. She was against the wall, hands in her sweat’s pockets and she wasn’t looking very anxious. As he was staring, she bent her head and waved to him. He waved back, unsure of what to do. She wasn’t smiling. 

“Channie.”

Jun has whispered and Chan turned to him. 

“-What ?

-I don’t know where is the-”

A scream and the sound of a gunshot. Chan’s eyes widened and Jun pulled him by the sleeve, forcing him to bend. Another gunshot was heard. Chan looked at Jun, panicking. Jun kissed his cheek and took his hand. He spoke very quietly and Chan had to focus to understand.

“-We’re going back to the first floor. We’ll try to stay like this, otherwise he will find us.

-Who ?

-I don’t know. And i really don’t want to find out. Come, we’re going.”

Jun began to walk, still hiding behind the barrier of the corridor. They eventually made it to the first floor without getting caught. They found one of the other participants. 

“Wanna pair up to fight the big cat ?”

Chan frowned. The big cat ? The other participant made a sign with his head, indicating him to watch behind him. Chan turned back and watched a figure walking on the second floor, just above him. Chan held his breath. The walking figure didn’t look like a girl or a man. She had an oversized sweat and unisex clothes, but that was nothing compared to her face. Chan couldn’t see anything. She had a big mask slipped over the head and Chan guessed it was supposed to represent a rabbit head. She was holding a gun. He shivered and Jun stroke his back. The other participant talked again, quietly.

“So, want to be a team ?”

Chan looked at Jun, unsure. Jun frowned a bit but a gunshot was heard and he nodded quickly.

-“Okay, but I have a rule. If you betray us, I’ll kill you myself.

-Same for you.

-Deal.

-Deal.”

Chan felt cold. He had never seen his hyung like that. Jun was always cheerful and a real soft boy. Hearing him talking about killing someone felt unreal, but if he was honest, the whole situation felt unreal. The other participant nodded and they agreed on trying to find the safe zone rather than just hiding. They walked, slowly and careful not to make any sound. They tried to open all the rooms on the first floor but no one was the good one. 

“-What are we doing now ?

-We have to go to the second floor. 

-What if we find the big cat ?”

Chan restrained himself from asking him why he was calling her the big cat while she was wearing a rabbit mask. 

“-It’s a risk to take. We have to.”

  
  


_Thirteen minutes remaining._

  
  


“It’s a sign. We have to go. Now.”

They made their way to the second floor and began to try to open the doors again. Chan was alone, trying to open the room 89, when he heard a sound. He turned back , expecting to see Jun but, in front of him, was the figure. Her gun pointed at him. Chan was paralized as the figure walked towards him. He took some steps back, not knowing what to do. He wanted to yell, to ask for help, but he knew it would probably kill him. He walked in front of another corridor and turned in, running for his life. He heard gunshots behind him but didn’t turn. Running. He could do that. He ran for twenty seconds before hearing a big sound of someone falling. He turned and, shocked, watched Jun sitting on the figure, pointing her own gun to her face. Chan yelled.

“Junhui hyung, what are you doing ?!”

Jun spoke without looking at him.

“-Listen to me. You’re gonna let him leave. Chan, ran, please. Find the right room ! I’ll wait here, otherwise she will follow you.

-But hyung..

-No but. You’re going. When you find the room, I’ll go with you.”

Chan nodded, grudgingly accepting to leave. Not like he had a lot of other choices. He hurried and soon he found himself on the 5th floor. 

  
  


_Nine minutes remaining._

  
  


Chan stopped. In front of him was the girl with a cap. He recognized her now, it was Irene. Irene wasn’t doing anything, just watching him.

“-What are you doing ?

-I’m watching you.

-You don’t want to find the safe zone ?

-Why would I try to open the doors when you are doing it very well alone ?”

Chan was dumbfounded. It was both a genius and a cold-hearted plan. He heard a gunshot and turned back in horror. Irene spoke.

“-It’s not him.

-How can you know ?

-I just do.”

Chan tried to focus on opening the doors. Irene left but Chan knew he would see her again soon. 

  
  


_Five minutes remaining._

  
  


Chan was still trying to open the door when he heard gunshots. He frowned and turned back. The rabbit figure was shooting towards a particular place. A particular door, to be precise. Chan was clever. He bent down and ran to the door. In front of it, he saw Irene coming, her hands still in her sweat’s pocket. 

“-So, you realized too ?

-Yeah. This room is the safe zone.”

Chan stayed paralized in front of the door, unable to move.

“-Aren’t you going to open it ?

-I..”

Irene showed her phone, the timer on the phone indicating three minutes left. Chan raised his head and saw the rabbit figure five floors above them. He nodded and opened the door. They entered carefully but nothing happened. They walked a bit inside.

“-Why was she chasing us ? She could have stayed in front of the door ?

-Look like there is something we don’t know.”

As soon as Irene spoke, they heard a sound behind them. Chan turned back and saw another figure, wearing the same mask. He barely have the time to think that he pushed Irene and threw himself on the other side. The rabbit figure shot them, Irene went out and Chan locked himself in the nearest room he had found in the apartment. He frowned. The rabbit tried to unlock the door, pushing it, but it didn't work. Chan turned back and saw two red buttons on the opposite walls of the room. On the wall was written : Push both buttons at once to clear the game. 

  
  


“Shit !”

Chan turned back, opened the door, only to find the rabbit figure sitting on the floor, unconscious. Chan yelled and took the gunshot from the rabbit. Irene entered followed by a few other people. Chan pointed at the door and Irene got in. He saw Jun arriving, breathless, blood on his white shirt. 

“-The rabbit figure is coming !”

Chan took his hand and made them enter into the room. 

  
  


_Fifteen seconds remaining._

  
  


Chan looked at Irene. The rabbit figure entered the room and they pressed the two buttons at the same time. Everyone went silent and Irene pulled out the rabbit mask. Under it was a young girl, probably younger than Chan. She had a collar around her neck with a blue light. Jun’s eyes opened in horror and then, she exploded, blood splashing on the walls. As another person was rummaging one of the rabbit figure’s pockets, Jun came closer to one of the dead bodies, hearing a sound. He frowned and tried to rummage too. He finally found a walkie-talkie.

“- _We have the answer now. Go back._

-Hey ! What’s-

- _Return to the Beach. Return to the Beach. Mission cleared. Return to the Beach_.”

Jun frowned. The Beach ?

  
  


x

  
  


“We should probably come back to the garage, don't you think so ?”

Jun and Chan were sitting on a bridge, watching the river.

“Jun hyung, it’s been an hour.”

Jun nodded but didn’t answer. Chan sighed and stroked his back.

“-We have to face them at some point. And we’re adults ! You’re one of the oldest in the group.

-They will yell at us and I don’t like it.”

Chan opened his mouth without knowing what to say. Jun had been so mature these two days that Chan had forgotten he was just a soft and anxious boy. Jun couldn’t always be the strong man of the situation. 

“-Hyung, they won’t. They’ll probably not understand why we did that in the first place but they won’t yell at you ! I’ll protect you !”

Jun laughed a bit, stroking Chan’s hair. 

“Alright, let’s go.”

They walked by to the garage and, in front of the door, Chan decided to open it. Jun had been so courageous before and it was his time now. He pushed the door in a loud noise and he found everyone staring at them, half shocked and half worried. Chan counted them rapidly. Eleven. Everyone came back from the games. Jun and him entered without speaking and Seungcheol was the first to stand up.

“Where the fuck were you ?”

Chan turned to look at Jun. The older seemed paralyzed, not knowing what to do or answer. Chan took a big breath and answered.

“We were outside.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly a liar. Joshua frowned.

“-You were outside ?

-Tell them Chan. They’ll find it at some point.

-What is that supposed to mean ?”

Chan took Jun’s hand and spoke, quietly but everyone heard him.

“We played a game.”

And then, chaos. Some began to scream, some tried to speak, asking for details, asking for everything the two were able to share. Chan’s head was hurting. He wanted to speak, he really wanted to answer everyone but he felt so dizzy. The voices became buzzs and dull sounds and his vision was blurry. He tried to move his head to look at Jun but the last thing he could remember was a loud noise sounding like Jihoon’s voice. Then, the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updating from my phone because I don't have my computer ! hope everything's good. leave comments if you have time ? 🥺


	6. the season called you has come to an end, my last song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw blood and gore ! even if it's not really long, i'd rather warn you. this one is a bit longer than the others chapters.
> 
> title from the chap from nct u - faded in my last song.

When Chan woke up, he wasn’t alone. Jun was sleeping next to him and Minghao was sitting in front of them, reading. When he felt Chan’s stare he looked up and closed his book. Minghao didn’t seem angry, or annoyed, or even worried. In fact he was smiling.

“Hi. How are you feeling ?”

Chan frowned. Why wasn’t Minghao angry ? 

“-Chan, I’m not angry. 

-I’m not bad. I mean, I guess I’m okay. Where are the others ?

-Outside. They’re sunbathing. At least Soonyoung hyung is sunbathing. I don’t know about the others.”

Chan smiled. It seems like Soonyoung to do that. Jun moved a bit in his sleep and Minghao smiled fondly.

“-Why aren’t you angry ?

-Why would I be ?

-We played another game.

-And ? It’s your right to do so.

-But..

-Chan, listen to me. I care about you two. We all do. But you’re grown adults and you can do whatever you want. Sure, we would have been happy to know where you went, but at the end the only thing that matters is that you’re alive and good.”

Chan nodded, not trusting his voice. Mingha opened his arms and Chan threw himself in it. Minghao was not really a clingy person but Chan loved his hugs. They stayed like this for a bit before Minghao let Chan go.

“I think.. There is someone who is a little bit more worried than all of us. Maybe you should try to talk to him.”

Chan frowned. Someone who was more worried ? 

“Seungcheol hyung ?”

Minghao let out a laugh and shakes his head.

"No. I mean, he’s worried too but I wasn’t talking about him.” 

As Chan was thinking, Minghao stood up and lay down next to Jun. 

“Chan, I think you care about someone the way I care for Jun. And I think he cares the same. Even if it’s hard, talk to him.”

Minghao snuggled against Jun and the other, unconsciously, turned over to hug him. Minghao smiled and stroked Jun’s hair. The younger one was radiating. The situation was terrible but Minghao seemed so happy, Chan couldn’t restrain himself to tell him.

“It’s because I’m still thinking about the fact that Jun is now my fiancé. He’s mine and I love him so much.”

Chan smiled and Jun opened one eye, half asleep.

“Hao ? Where is Chan ?”

Minghao laughed a bit and answered, still stroking the other’s hair.

“He’s here. And he’s good, watch by yourself.”

Jun turned slowly and it took him a few seconds to understand who was in front of him.

“-Chan ? Are you okay ? You didn’t have to-

-I’m okay, hyung, don’t worry. I’m sorry for fainting in your arms.”

Jun shakes his head quietly.

“-It’s okay. I was just worried, no need to apologize. It happens to the best of us. 

-Thank you. Are you still tired ?

-Just a bit. It wasn’t easy to beat that girl. The first game was easier. 

-Jun, what was the game about ?

-I’ll tell you if you kiss me.”

Chan rolled his eyes, trying to restrain a smile.

“Alright, I’ll let you be all lovey dovey by yourself.”

Jun laughed a bit.

“Go talk to Jihoon. He was really worried.”

Chan blushed but nodded, stood up and left. Before pushing the door he heard them talk.

“-I was so afraid to lose you.

-I’m here, honey. I’m sorry.

-It’s okay, I trust you.”

Chan smiled and went outside. He could see Seungkwan, Mingyu and Joshua playing football. The others were not far, resting. 

“Chan.”

Chan jumped and turned to look at Jihoon. He was sitting on the bench. 

“Sorry, didn’t want to scare you. Wanna sit ?”

Chan nodded and sat near Jihoon. A bit too near, but the older one wasn't complaining. Jihoon took a deep breath. Talking with tact wasn’t his best quality.

“-Are you feeling better ? We were scared that Jun would disturb you but turns out he fell asleep right away. He didn’t want to leave you.

-I’m better. It was just.. a bit too much noise at the same time.” 

Jihoon nodded. A few minutes passed before he decided to talk again. 

“-How ?

-How what ?

-How did you wake up like this, like you knew everything was going to happen ?

-I didn’t do anything. I think it was just paranoia. Probably a coincidence.

-Or you’re a genius.

-This is probably the right answer, I think that I may be a genius too.”

Jihoon laughed and Chan smiled. Jihoon’s laugh was a really comforting sound. 

“-What was the game about ?

-We were in a big residence and we had to find a safezone while running away from a girl with a rabbit mask who was shooting at people. Jun hyung saved us all, as usual.

-What did he do ?

-He kicked the girl. 

-Oh, wow.

-I know. I had the same reaction.”

They went silent again. Chan thought about what Minghao said to him and decided to just go for it.

“-Hyung.

-Yes..?

-I think I like you.”

Jihoon choked on air and Chan patted his back.

“-What did you say ?

-I said, I think I like you. You’re always caring, and here for me when I need.

-Everyone is.”

Jihoon had murmured the last sentence and was suddenly really preoccupied by the grass. 

“Yes, everyone does. But it’s different when it’s you. Sometimes when I want to give up everything because being an idol is too hard, I look at you. And I know I can’t leave. Not when it would mean being separated from you.”

Jihoon was looking at him with his eyes wide open. Chan took his left hand in his and began to talk again.

“Hyung, you’re not here only when I need. You’re here when I succeed too. When I did my first solo, when I did my first video about dancing. I want you to be there, with me, at every moment in my life.”

Jihoon wasn’t answering and Chan smiled. It was so him not to react in a moment like this.

“I don’t want to ask you anything. I just want you to know about how I feel. You’re really precious to me.”

Jihoon finally raised his head and looked at Chan. He stroked the younger’s cheek, getting closer and pecked his lips. 

“You’re really precious to me too. No need to rush things, okay ? We can take our time.”

Chan was still a bit shocked, his hand stroking his own lips. Jihoon had kissed him. Well, it wasn’t a real kiss but it was enough for Chan to feel happy. He leant his head on Jihoon’s shoulder and the older put his arm around him. 

“-Since when ?

-Since you made me record my part for Don’t Wanna Cry.

-Chan ! It was three years ago !

-Yeah…? 

-It’s been so long !

-Sorry. You were really into your work and it impressed me. It was a motivation for me to do better and to become a better artist.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes but Chan caught the small blush on his cheek. 

“-And you ?

-I can’t really remember. I think it was on your first solo stage for The Real Thing. 

-It’s been two years ?!

-Yeah. You were so confident, it was my first time seeing you like this. To be honest, all the members were a bit shocked. I guess it’s when we all understood you weren’t a baby anymore. I still remember Soonyoung complaining about how he had to comfort you when you couldn’t go on your school trips because of practice.”

Chan laughed.

“-Practice was important. I was a bit sad, but I knew it was the right thing to do.”

Jihoon nodded and they stayed like this for a while before Jun and Minghao went out of the garage too. Jun smiled seeing Chan curled up against the other and winked at him. Chan blushed. 

  
  


x

  
  


“Do you think they’re weird ?”

Seungkwan was laying on the grass, his head resting on Hansol’s lap. 

“-Who ?

-Junhui hyung and Chan.

-Why ?

-Because they went to play another game when they could have died ! And they still had days on their VISA.”

Hansol stroked Seungkwan’s hair while the other was trying to make a flower crown. 

“-I don’t know, honey. I think they needed it, like, when you do your first sleepless night to practice for a comeback. You’re half tired and half wanting to do it again.”

Seungkwan nodded and spoke again.

“-Why do you think Junhui hyung proposed to Minghao hyung ?

-Because they love each other ?

-No, but I mean, why now ?

-Because we’re unsure about the future. I guess he wanted to do it for not having regrets.”

Seungkwan looked at Chan and Jihoon and smiled.

“-Don’t you think they’ll be cute together ?

-I think they would. I feel like they have been crushing on each other for years.

-True ! I can’t even remember a time where Chan wasn’t in love with him !”

Hansol laughed and touched the flower crown. 

“-It suits you ! Don’t put it away !”

Hansol nodded with a smile and took Seungkwan’s hand. Seungkwan blushed and leant closer to the other. It felt a bit cold despite the sun, and the cold was always a good excuse to snuggle against Hansol. He began to hum some notes.

“-What’s your favorite music of us ?

-You know it’s the one you’re currently singing.”

Seungkwan stopped humming a few seconds.

“-I’m sorry for talking so much and asking so many questions.”

Hansol smiled fondly and kissed Seungkwan on his cheek, near his mouth. 

“-It’s okay. I like hearing your voice.

-Flower is my favorite song too.”

And then, he hummed again.

From a distance, the three oldest were watching them with smiles. 

“-Do you think they’re secretly dating ?

-It doesn’t look like a secret.

-I don’t think they’re even dating. I guess they’re just going with the flow.”

Joshua rolled his eyes as he saw Hansol kissing Seungkwan and the other saying some things among the lines of ‘Do you like me humming that much ?’.

“-Which song are they talking about ?

-Flower. It’s their favorite.

-I like this one too. There is something special about it.”

Jeonghan nodded. 

“-I can’t stop thinking about Jun and Minghao. Will they ever be able to marry ? I don’t think China allows gay marriage.

-I don’t know. We’ll see when we get out of there.”

Seungcheol wanted to think about positive things but a part of him wanted to add, ‘Will we ever find the world we lived in ?’.

  
  


x

  
  


Three days later, everyone needed to do another game. Jun and Chan wanted to participate too even if they didn’t need it. Jihoon and Minghao tried to persuade them not to, but they had been clear : they would participate with them. Chan had noted that Jun seemed a bit off, asking the others to repeat what they were saying a few times. Minghao was worried but tried not to show it. 

Everyone was in the middle of a big natural botanical garden. There was a table with phones.  _ 1 per person _ said the sign, and Chan wanted to yell because he knew it. No need to set a reminder. 

“What is that ?”

Everyone turned to look at Wonwoo. He pointed to another table. On it were at least fifty tools : screwdriver, wire cutter, axe. And thirteen headphones. Kind of.

“-Is that headphones ? 

-I don’t know. It looks like a mix of headphones and collars. And glasses. Do we really have to put them ?”

  
  


_ Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. Please wait until the game commences.  _

  
  


Everyone began to take phones and a loud music was heard. Chan turned back and found a big TV. Sponsored by Seoul Natural Botanical Garden ! was written with colors and an animated plant. Kind of creepy, thought Chan.

  
  


_ Please, wear the goggles.  _

  
  


“The music is creepy..”

Jun was the first to try on the goggles. Once he had put it on his head, he couldn’t put it off. Minghao stroked his back.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be able to do that at the end. You’re still very sexy, even with that big thing on your head.”

Chan knew Minghao was just trying to reassure him, but it makes him sick and he didn’t know why. He tried not to panic, but it was hard.

“-The target cursor turned red when our eyes met !

-I think it’s eyes tracking. If you look into someone’s eyes, it will recognize it.”

  
  


_ Registration has closed. The game will now commence. Difficulty : Seven of Hearts.  _

  
  


Chan turned to look at Jun.

“Jun hyung.. it’s Heart !”

Jun was shocked, not knowing what to say. Mingyu frowned.

“-And what’s about Heart ?

-Each suit has a significance. Our first one was Club, and it was a team battle.

-Then, what is Heart ?”

  
  


_ GAME : HIDE AND SEEK. _

  
  


Jun closed his eyes, shivering and spoke again.

“Heart means a game where you play with people’s hearts.”

Everyone gasped and Chan wanted to cry but added another thing.

“It’s a game of betrayal.”

  
  


_ Rule : One person will be the wolf and the others will be the lambs. The one found by the wolf will become the next wolf. Hide well so that the wolf does not discover you. Clear condition : Whoever is the wolf at the end of the game wins. Time limit, 15 minutes. After, the collars around all the lambs will explode. If you try to take off your goggles, you’ll die. _

  
  


Chan let out a scream. Jihoon was beside him in a second, trying to reassure him, but he couldn’t stop the panic. 

  
  


_ Tilt ! Seokmin is the wolf.  _

  
  


Seokmin turned to the TV and tried to speak but only inaudible murmurs came out of his mouth. 

“I don’t want to !”

Hansol tried to stroke his back but as soon as Seokmin looked at him, another sound was heard.

  
  


_ Tilt ! Hansol is the wolf. _

  
  


“-What the fuck ?”

Chan turned to look at Jun, came closer and tried to shake his arm slightly. 

“-Jun hyung, say something ! You found the solution for the first game and you kicked the girl in the second one ! What’s happening, what is-”

Minghao put his hand on Chan’s arm, gesturing to him to stop talking. Jun finally spoke, his voice shaking.

“I think it’s working with the eyes tracking thing. When the wolf and someone make eye contact, it will make them the wolf. Hansol, try looking at someone.”

Hansol tried to look at Seungkwan but the other one had closed his eyes. He looked at Seungcheol, not knowing whom he should choose. 

  
  


_ Tilt ! Seungcheol is the wolf. _

  
  


Jun sighed and covered his face with his hands. Chan wanted to talk but the look Minghao gave him restrained him to. Jun spoke again.

“-We have to choose who is going to survive.

-What the fuck Jun ?!”

Minghao glared at Joshua, visibly not happy. 

“-You know I’m right. There can be only one of us surviving this.

-But.. there isn’t another solution ?”

Jun stared at Chan with an undescriptible look. Chan felt cold sweats and suddenly, everything fell into sense. Jun being weird from the morning, the dark circle under his eyes.

“-You didn’t.. !

-I had too !”

Jeonghan sighed and spoke.

“You two are being weird ! What are you talking about ?”

But neither of them seemed to care about Jeonghan. Chan felt angry and worried at the same time.

“-Did Tzuyu contact you ?”

Minghao frowned. Tzuyu ?

“-She did. I couldn’t say no. It could be useful ! 

-Oh, and how so ? Are you going to sacrifice yourself ?”

Minghao pulled Jun against him and spoke, repeating Jeonghan’s question.

“-What are you talking about ?”

Jun was ready to talk but Chan ran to him and shutted him with his hands.

“Don’t tell them ! If you say it, you will die !”

Seungkwan took Hansol’s hand, trying to find something to hold, not to faint. 

“Seungcheol hyung, look at me.”

Seungcheol did, momentarily forgetting about the game.

  
  


_ Tilt ! Junhui is the wolf. 5 minutes remaining. _

  
  


Jun closed his eyes. And Chan understood. Jun was going to sacrifice himself.

“-You can’t know if it will work !

-I’ll be waiting for the last moment. There will be no time to make someone the wolf.”

Everyone was silent, the majority still trying to understand everything.

“-I just want you all to know that-

-Oh the fuck no ! That is exactly what you are not going to do, Jun hyung ! We’ll find a solution !

-There is no solution. And no time. Let me speak.”

Chan opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

  
  


_ 2 minutes remaining. _

  
  


“I just want everyone to know that you were all the best thing that ever happened to me. All of you. I was the happiest being with you. Minghao, honey, please, don’t forget how much I was loving you.”

Minghao was shaking, holding onto Jun, as if he was trying not to let him go. Some members were crying and the others were too shocked to speak.

  
  


_ 15 seconds remaining.  _

  
  


Chan wasn’t going to let Jun sacrifice himself. He ran to him and threw Minghao away. Jun opened his eyes, looking at the sky, and spoke.

“-I’m a deal- !”

Chan took his hand and, by reflex, Jun looked at him as he was finishing to say what was supposed to be his last word. 

  
  


_ Tilt ! Chan is the wolf. _

  
  


Chan tried to take off his goggles and Jun’s eyes widened in horror as he remembered the rule. The little light in his own collar turned red. The clock rang, as if it was spelling the end of the world. And it did. 

  
  


_ Revealing being a dealer would kill you. _

  
  


_ If you try to take off your goggles, you’ll die. _

  
  


Jun’s collar exploded first. One second he was alive, and the next one, blood was everywhere around him. Minghao screamed in horror. 

Chan’s collar exploded a few seconds after and the only thing he saw last was Jihoon’s face of terror. 

Then, everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not the end at all don't worry !


	7. if there’s the moonlight i wouldn’t want to wake up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from the chap from daydream - jhope (bts)

Chan woke up yelling and suffocating. He was in his bed. Safe. Safe ? He heard steps on the floor and a few seconds later everyone was in his room. Jihoon spoke first. 

“Hey Channie. What’s happening ?”

Chan couldn’t answer. He was supposed to be dead. He was supposed to..

“-Jun hyung ?

-Yes ?”

Chan stared at Jun, not even blinking. Jun was alive ? Impossible. He had seen his head explode. He had seen the blood. It was not even one minute ago. Jun bent down in front of Chan with a small smile. 

“-What’s happening ?

-You’re alive !”

Jun frowned. Minghao opened his mouth to talk but Jeonghan looked at him and shaked his head, gesturing him not to say anything.

“-Well, I guess I am.

-Did the power come back ?

-The power isn’t-”

The sound of the refrigerator stopped. Seungkwan went out of the room and no one dared to speak. When he came back, he seemed shocked.

“How did you know about the power ? It just shut off.”

But Chan wasn’t listening to him. He put his head inside his hands and sighed. It wasn’t happening. No. This couldn’t be real. Jihoon sat on the bed and stroked his hair.

“Chan, what’s happening ?”

What could he say ? ‘We’re going to be almost alone, and everyone will disappear soon, or maybe they already did ?’ ‘And next Jun is going to propose to Minghao and three days after his head will explode ?’. He decided to take Jun’s hand in his and turned to look at Minghao.

“-Jun hyung loves you so much. 

-I’m dating him so I guess he does..?”

Jun pressed his hand lightly, trying to give him support. He didn’t know why but it seemed like Chan needed it. 

“Jun hyung, why did you do that ? We love you so much, you can’t leave us..”

Chan began to cry and threw himself into Jun’s arms. Seungcheol spoke.

“-What do you mean ? Jun isn’t going anywhere.

-For now ! You don’t know anything ! I’m the only one who knows. I don’t want you to die..”

He had murmured the last sentence but Jihoon heard. 

“Channie, what happened ?”

If he had come back here, it meant that Jihoon and him.. were not together ? This idea made Chan want to cry even more. Jun hugged him more tightly before he tried to talk again. He raised his head and looked at Minghao’s hand. No ring. Of course, no ring. 

“I want to talk with Jun hyung.”

Hansol and Wonwoo exchanged a look. Seokmin was the first one to react. He pushed Jihoon and Minghao to the door and everyone followed. Soon, Jun and him were alone. If Jun was a dealer, maybe he remembered something ? But did the Jun in front of him was the same Jun who helped him in the games ? 

“-What do you want to talk about ?

-You.. really love Minghao hyung, right ?

-Yes, of course I do. Why ?

-Uh..”

Jun went closer to Chan and whispered.

“-I want to propose soon.

-I know.”

If Jun was surprised, he didn’t show anything. 

“-I already bought the ring.

-I’m sure he will be so happy.

-Chan, I think you need to talk to the others.

-Why ?

-Tell them you had a nightmare. They’re so worried, I’m sure they are in the living room trying hard not to come here.

-They’ll ask why I wanted to talk to you.

-Invent something.”

Chan went silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

“-You were there too ?

-Where ?

-In.. Before. We already went through this, right ?”

Jun smiled mischievously and patted Chan’s head. 

“-What are you talking about ? You just had a bad dream. I’ll tell the others to come and check on you.”

Jun stood up and left, leaving Chan confused. He heard footsteps on the ground and he took a deep breath. Seungcheol was the first to open the door. He sat on the bed and put his hand on Chan’s forehead. Jun, who came back, spoke.

“-What are you doing , hyung ?

-He may be sick.

-He is not sick. He had a bad dream. Mmh, Chan ?

-Y- Yes. I had a nightmare.”

Seokmin got closer and hugged the maknae. 

“-Channie ! You’re with us now, you’re safe ! Don’t worry too much, okay ?”

Chan nodded and made eye contact with Jun again. The other seemed strange. Had he really not been there in.. Before ? He hadn’t seemed shocked to learn that Chan knew about the proposal. He shook his head. Maybe it was just a coincidence. He turned to look at Seungkwan.

“-Seungkwan hyung ?

-Yes, Chan ?

-Do you still have your DVDs of Meteor Garden ?”

Seungkwan frowned but nodded. 

“-Yes, why ?

-I want to watch it with you. Jeonghan hyung, can you make hot chocolate for us, please ?”

Jeonghan nodded happily and left the room with Joshua. Seungkwan spoke again.

“-How do you know ?

-Know what ?

-You’re being weird, Chan. First, the power. Now, you’re asking about Meteor Garden right when I wanted to watch it again ! Are you a fortune-teller ?

-If Chan is a fortune-teller, I want him to tell me when I’ll win the lotto !

-Wonwoo, you don’t even play lotto.

-But if I have the right numbers, I can !”

Jeonghan yelled about the hot chocolates being ready and all the members left the room, including Chan. All but Seungkwan and Hansol. 

“-You’re not coming ?”

Seungkwan frowned and took Hansol’s hand.

“-Chan hates Meteor Garden ! He’s always yelling about Shancai being a bad protagonist. And he hates this kind of drama.

-Maybe he just wants to spend time with you ?

-He could have asked to watch a Wonder Girls or an Apink concert. I haven’t spoken about Meteor Garden for months !

-I think you’re just being a drama queen, Kwan.”

Jeonghan entered the room.

“-You’re still here ? Everyone is in the living room ! Seungkwan, Chan wants your DVDs. Where did you put them ?

-I’m coming, I’m coming. God, you’re all lucky Shancai is my favorite character !”

Seungkwan left the room in a hurry, grommeling about his drama. Jeonghan stared at Hansol with a questioning look but the other just shrugged. 

A few minutes later, everyone was in front of Seungkwan’s computer. Chan was sitting between him and Jihoon. 

“-I can’t believe Shancai falls in love with the bad guy ! She was supposed to hate him !”

Seungkwan sighed, trying not to yell back.

“-You don’t choose who you fell in love with. You, more than others, should know that !

-What is that supposed to mean ?”

Seungkwan didn’t say anything, smiled widely at a blushing Chan and focused on the screen again. Jihoon stared at Chan. 

  
  


x

  
  


“- I want to watch another episode !

-But your computer doesn’t have any battery left.”

Seungkwan was laying on the big carpet in the middle of the living room. Hansol sat next to him and reached for a pillow.

“Raise your head, Kwan.”

Seungkwan did as he was told and Hansol put the pillow under his head. Mingyu whistled and Hansol blushed.

“His head is going to hurt if he stays like this..”

Seungkwan smiled and kissed Hansol’s cheek. Soonyoung rolled his eyes and Joshua giggled. Everyone seemed to be fine but Chan was sitting on the couch, hunched over his knees. Suddenly, a thunderbolt was heard. Chan, horrified, ran to the window. No one. No cars, no people, empty streets. 

“No, no it can’t be happening ! I’m dreaming, it’s a nightmare, it’s a fucking nightmare !”

Everyone had turned to look at Chan. Seungcheol tried to stand up but Jun was faster and he was already next to Chan. He tried to put his hand on the other’s arm but as soon as he did, the younger screamed. Jeonghan ran to him but Chan leaned against the wall and tried to breathe properly through his hiccups. 

“Jihoon.”

Jihoon looked at Jun with a questioning face. 

“I think he needs you.”

Seokmin pushed him lightly and Jihoon took small steps to reach him. He kneeled and gently wiped away Chan’s tears. Chan leaned in the other’s touch. 

“Channie, what’s happening with you today ?"

Chan looked at Jihoon’s worried face and turned to look at Jun. The other was looking through one of the windows but didn’t seem shocked. Chan spoke.

“Jun hyung, are you seeing the same thing as me ?”

Minghao frowned. These two were acting weird today. Jun simply nodded and spoke.

“There is no one in the streets.”

Wonwoo laughed.

“What game are you two playing today ?” 

Chan shivered. Game. Will they need to play some games here too ?

“-We’re not playing anything. Come, take a look.

-He’s right. The streets are empty.

-Did the newspapers talk about a-

-No !”

Chan couldn’t believe it. Soonyoung was asking exactly the same thing as he did before.

“-No, we are not missing any fire drill !

-How did you know I was going to talk about a fire drill ?

-Because you already said it before.”

Chan had whispered the last sentence but Jihoon heard everything. 

“-What do you mean ?

-Nothing. Can you please hug me a bit more ?”

And Jihoon did. 

  
  


x

  
  


Everyone was sitting in the living room but no one was talking. Chan was clinging to Jihoon and the older wasn’t even complaining. Jun was the only one seeming calm. He was looking at the window. Chan was sure he knew something. There was no way he was alone in this.

“-Jun hyung ?

-Yes ?

-You’re a dea-

-Shhhhh !”

Chan looked at him, outraged to have been interrupted like this. 

“-I told you it was only a bad dream, mmh ? Didn’t I ? Why are you speaking about this again.”

Chan wanted to answer back but he saw Jun’s eyes. He wasn’t trying to be an asshole, he was just scared. So scared, and Chan blinked a few times before apologizing quietly and going back in Jihoon’s arms. Jun made a gesture that Chan took as an ‘It’s okay’. Seungcheol frowned.

“What are you hiding from us ? You two have been strange since Chan woke up.”

Jihoon felt Chan tensed up and tried to stroke his back, hoping the small movement would calm him. It worked a bit. Chan didn’t answer and neither did Jun. Minghao sat near his boyfriend and linked their hands. Jun raised his head with a questioning look. Minghao whispered.

“Jun, I love you. Whatever is happening I’ll stay with you.”

Jun nodded quietly but didn’t say anything. Seokmin chuckled and everyone turned to him.

“Uh, sorry. I just found them cute. We never get to see Minghao like this.” 

Chan knew he shouldn’t answer but it was beyond his strength. 

“-That’s not true ! Minghao hyung is always like this ! It’s just usually more discreet. 

-What do you mean ?

-He’s always sitting near Jun hyung in the interviews we’re doing because he knows Jun hyung gets nervous easily. He always carries some chinese medicine to give him when he doesn’t feel good. He strokes his back when we’re on our way back from practice. Sometimes he goes to the Chinese bakery at the other side of town just to bring mooncakes because they’re Jun’s favorite even though it’s almost two hours just to go and come back.

-I.. I haven’t noticed all of this.”

Everyone was shocked. Minghao blushed, not having prepared himself to hear this. Jun nodded and spoke.

“-I fell in love with him on our first meal at a Chinese restaurant. We had known each other for some months and he had asked me to go with him to try a new restaurant. I said yes because I was a bit homesick and Minghao was a part of home. And then I knew that Minghao wasn’t-

-That he wasn’t a part of home. He was home.

-You’re right, Channie. That’s exactly what I was going to say.”

Chan couldn’t contain a smile. Despite everything that was happening, he found it cute how Minghao and Jun had said the same thing about each other, but in different universes. Parallels universes ? Time lapses ? Whatever the name was.

“It must have been difficult for you, after Mingming left.”

It was Mingyu. Chan was a bit surprised, talking about ex trainee and particularly Mingming had been kind of forbidden before, but Jun didn’t seem sad. 

“-I won’t lie and say that it was easy when it was not. And I didn’t want Minghao to feel like a remplacement, because he was not. Mingming has a special place in my heart because he was my first real friend in Korea and in Pledis. But Minghao is much more than that.

-Are you still in contact ?

-With Mingming ? Only a bit. Not a lot. We talked sometimes, he always asks about how everyone is doing and I feel like doing a report to my mom about my younger brother.”

Seokmin chuckled and Seungcheol smiled fondly. 

“-I kinda miss him, and the others too. I’m glad everyone can still have their time to shine. It’s what everyone deserves.

-He’s doing pretty well in China. Same for Samuel. Don’t really know about the others.”

The silence was made again but Seungkwan broke it.

“-Channie ?

-Yes ?

-How did you know you wanted to be an idol ?

-Uh, I don’t know. Since my parents were dancers, I think they just made me wanna do that. And you ?”

Seungkwan was taken aback, clearly not expecting Chan to return the question. 

“Actually I didn’t want to.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. 

“But you’re born to be an idol !”

Seungkwan seemed embarrassed. 

“-I was just part of the school’s choir and one day my teacher told me he received a message from a company who found one of my singing videos on the internet. I guess they found my voice good. The next month I was leaving Jeju for Seoul.

-I thought you wanted to be an idol since you were a child ? Isn’t that what you said during an interview ?”

Seungkwan looked at them, a little bit surprised.

“-Of course I lied ! Everyone was talking about how being an idol was their first dream. I couldn’t say I wasn’t even the one who chose to do the audition. 

-What did you want to become then ?

-A war reporter.

-Really ?!”

Seungkwan nodded. 

“-Yes. Why ? Don’t tell me everyone here wanted to be an idol ? Chan ?

-I was dreaming of being a dancer, so.. 

-Seokmin ?

-I wanted to be a teacher in kindergarten..

-Cute ! 

-Uh, I guess I’m better with being an idol. Kids are cute, but not all the day.

-Anyone else who wanted to become another thing ? Jun hyung ?

-Well, I guessed I just thought I would continue to be an actor. I was street casting while buying mooncakes so..”

Everyone laughed. Talking had made the situation a little bit less stressful but Chan wasn’t feeling calm yet. He couldn’t think about anything else than the first game. They couldn’t just stay here, talking about the good old days. The Game Master wouldn’t let them. They talked again for a bit before Minghao called Chan.

“Channie, are you okay ?”

Chan raised his head and saw everyone looking at him, worried.

“-What ?

-You were spacing out again. 

-I.. I was thinking that we should go outside and.. and take a look at everything ?

-Chan’s right. Should we make teams ?

-No !

-Why ?!

-You know why ! 

-No I don’t !”

Jeonghan looked incredulously at Chan and Jun.

“What are you two doing, again ? I feel like you’ve been in your own world since this morning !”

‘Oh, he doesn’t even know how he’s right’ thought Chan. Seungcheol nodded and Jun frowned and crossed his arm. 

“Just because a situation repeats itself doesn’t mean the end will be the same.”

The members looked at Jun, then Chan, then Jun again, like they were watching a tennis match. Hansol opened his mouth to talk but closed it after a little reflexion and just stared at them, incredulous. 

“-I can’t believe you’re being like this ! Do you want us to be killed again ?!

-Killed ?!”

Seokmin was terrified. Jun and Chan were close and always laughing together. How did the situation end up like this ? Seungcheol spoke.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you two but you need to give us an explanation. You’ve been acting strange since Chan woke up. Jun, you’re always cheerful and kind, what’s happening today ? Chan, why do you talk to him this way ?”

Both of them went silent, avoiding their leader’s gaze. Minghao got closer to his boyfriend and sat next to him. He whispered something in mandarin and Jun nodded slightly. 

“Chan had a nightmare. It’s not the first time, but I was the only one who was there last time.”

Chan raised his head to look at Jun, surprised. He threw him a questioning glare but Jun just smiled and spoke again.

“I just want you to know that things can be different and that it’s okay to have a bad dream, but that doesn’t mean every dream will be bad after this.”

Chan smiled too and stood up, still looking at Jun with puppy eyes. Jun nodded with a smile and opened his arms. Chan threw himself in. Joshua looked at them fondly and Wonwoo felt himself breath again. Chan and Jun were so close and it was surely the first time the others witnessed such a thing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave comments if you liked the chapter !


	8. they can’t trap us in the four seasons only, the line i drew brings spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from lilili yabbay - svt perf team

“-So, what are we doing ?

-I think we should just stay together and go outside. Take a glance around and try to look for other people. We can’t be the only one here.”

Wonwoo nodded and everyone caught shoes or coats to go outside. They left their buildings and walked on the main road.

“-It’s weird to be able to take a walk outside without crazy fans or cars, I thought it would be great but I feel even more anxious.

-Uh, being alone is scary ! Hansoooool ?

-Yes, Kwan ?

-Uh, just hold my hand ! I am scared !”

Hansol took Seungkwan’s hand and Joshua made an ‘aww’ sound. Hansol blushed slightly but Seungkwan just stuck out his tongue. Jeonghan laughed and Wonwoo smiled. Everything felt almost normal. They walked for ten minutes before finding themselves in front of a building. There was a neon light flashing.

_Game arena, this way !_

“-Why do I feel like it’s a trap ? 

-Let’s go ! 

-Chan, I don’t think we should go in..

-I stand with Chan. We should go inside.

-Juuuuun, why are you like this ? This morning you two were fighting and now that the situation is scary, you are by his side ?

-Yes, I do. We don’t force you to come..

-No, we have to stay together ! Let’s go.”

Chan and Jun were the first one to go inside. They found a table with phones. Chan took one.

_Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. Please wait until the game commences. Two minutes until registration closes._

“What ?”

Jun took one too and soon everyone did. They stayed silent until Taehyung and Jisoo entered the building too. They bowed to each other and took a phone.

“-Everything was the same for you ? No power, then a thunderstorm, then no one in the streets ?

-Yeah.

-Pretty scary.”

_Tilt ! Registration has closed. The game will now commence. GAME : “DEAD OR ALIVE”. Difficulty : Three of Clubs. Rule : Select the correct door within the stipulated time. Clear condition. The goal is to leave the building within the time limit. Please, go into the elevator._

“Game ?”

Despite everyone’s questions, they went into the elevator and arrived in front of two doors. The two same posters were here and Chan swore he hated this magical girl with all his soul. 

“What is happening ?

-I don’t know Jisoo..”

Jun looked at Chan. 

_GAME : BEGIN. The time limit for this room is : 1 minute 50 seconds._

"-What the fuck ? 

-What are we supposed to do ?"

Chan turned to Jun and spoke.

"Where are the three others ?"

Jun shrugged. Seungcheol frowned. 

"-What are you two talking about, again ?

-I really don't know what they are doing."

_1 minute 20 seconds remaining._

Chan sighed. It seemed really less stressful to go through a situation when you already lived it some days before. 

"-Jun hyung, what do we do now ?

-Jisoo, do you have a paper and your glitter pen ? 

-How do you know I have a glitter pen ?”

_1 minute remaining._

“-Please, just give it to me.”

Jisoo nodded and handed him her pen. Jun sat down and began to draw on it. Seokmin spoke.

“-What is he doing ?

-Does he really think it’s the time to draw something ?

-He’s saving our lives, maybe y’all can be a little bit more respectful !

-Chan, don’t speak-

-Shut up ! Do you want to die ?! Let me focus.”

Everyone turned to look at Jun. 

_45 seconds remaining_

“-Chan, what was the car parked in front of the building ?

-A BMW 523d.

-One is 4 meters and..

-94 centimeters.

-Yes. 

-The length of the building is equivalent to four of those cars. This means that this building is approximately..

-20 meters in length.”

_30 seconds remaining._

Seungkwan turned to Hansol.

“What the fuck ?”

Hansol raised his hands in a way to say ‘I don’t know man’. Everyone was silent, not fully understanding everything going on. Jun and Chan were still talking.

“-The rooms must be..

-6 square meter in size.

-And they are probably square. 

-There can only be three rooms on one side.

-Yeah. So it’s the..

-LIVE door !”

No one moved. Chan sighed exaggeratedly. 

_15 seconds remaining._

“So ?!”

Taehyung ran and opened the LIVE door. Nothing happened. Chan pushed everyone inside. 

The time limit for this room is : 1 minute 40 seconds.

“-What was going to happen in the room ?

-Believe me you don’t want to know.

-Chan, maybe it’s too personal but.. why do I feel like you know what’s happening ?”

Chan threw a dead glance at Soonyoung.

“-Yeah, you shouldn’t ask. I’m trapped inside this like you and I just want to go out and do something useful to know about the situation going on. And I especially don’t want anyone to die here. So, for once, y’all are going to listen to Jun hyung and me and trust us without asking questions. We’re doing it everyday for years, so maybe it’s time to inverse the roles ?”

Everyone was dumbfounded. Chan had never spoken like that before.

_1 minutes remaining._

Taehyung spoke, trying to soften the atmosphere. 

“-Wow, your maknae is cool.”

Chan tried to smile and turned to Jun. 

“-Which door ?

-I think the DIE one.”

Chan walked calmly to the door and opened it. Nothing happened. Jun pushed everyone inside and Jisoo closed the door.

_The time limit for this room is : 1 minute 30 seconds_.

They reiterated the same operation until the last room. Jun turned to Chan.

“-It’s the last one.

-I know !

-How do you guys know that ?

-Not the moment, Seokmin.”

Seokmin did something that looked like nodding his head. 

“-There should be one door here ! Why is there no door ?

-Jun hyung, maybe not all the rooms are square ?

-What do you mean ?

-Maybe.. we haven’t seen the first room with the DIE door. 

-Mmh.

-We know for sure that this LIVE door isn’t going anywhere. Should we try the DIE door ?

-I guess so ?”

Dark smoke was coming out from the ground and Wonwoo coughed.

“-What is that ?!

-No time to lose ! The DIE door, NOW !”

Jisoo opened it and everyone ran. They were outside.

“-We’re outside ?

-Wow, thanks Seungkwan, I didn't notice that.

-You might have saved my ass but no need to be rude !”

_Tilt ! GAME : CLEAR. Congratulations._

“-It’s the end ?

-Did we really survived ?

-Uh, what just happened ?”

_Tilt ! To the survivors of the game, we will now supply you with a three-day VISA._

“-VISA ?”

Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from the end of the street. A man appeared from one of the building’s corners. 

“Oh no, not that again !

-What do you mean, again ?”

Chan sighed and didn’t answer. 

“My VISA ends today. I’m going to.. drop out of the game ! You.. There is no end to this game, no matter how much you clear.”

He knelt and got shot by a red laser. 

Seokmin and Jeonghan gasped in shock. Seungcheol looked at Jun and Chan.

“-Why do you seem unaffected ? You have to tell us. 

-How did you know about the game thing ?

-It was just basic maths.

-Don’t play this game with me, Chan !”

Jun shivered and Minghao stroked his back. 

“-Chan and me.. are having nightmares these days. That’s why he woke up like this this morning. 

-About..?

-We don’t wanna talk about it. This is our explanation.

-Your explanation sucks.

-Leave it or take it!”

Minghao spoke with a gentle voice.

“-Look I know it’s hard for everyone. And that we’re all tired. But we’re a team before anything else, right ? We’re family. We all want to be far away from this but it looks like we don’t really have the choice. So, maybe we could trust Chan and Jun hyung ? We love and trust them. So, maybe we could try ? Instead of fighting like we did in the game. That’s not the way we’re gonna solve our problems.”

Jisoo smiled fondly and Taehyung hummed quietly. They left, bowing to the team, and let them talk together. Jun hugged Minghao.

“-Thank you, honey.

-You’re welcome, angel. I love you.”

Jun just smiled and hid his head in Minghao’s neck. Jihoon spoke.

“-Alright. I trust you.”

Chan’s eyes sparkled.

“-Really ?

-Mmh.

-Thank you hyung !”

Chan threw himself in Jihoon’s arms and laughed. Seokmin thought that Chan’s laugh was a good reason to trust them. 

x

“Are we really going to avoid the main matter ?”

Everyone turned to Seungkwan. Since Chan and Jun had asked the others to trust them, no one had mentioned their curious behavior again. Minghao just felt happy to be able to cuddle with Jun and everyone tried not to speak about the game. Hansol answered quietly.

“What are you talking about ?”

Seungkwan’s eyes widened and Hansol mentally cursed. Seungkwan didn’t seem in a good mood.

“-Are you kidding me ?!

-Seungkwan-

-No, I won’t take your Seungkwan ! I can’t believe it. Chan and Jun are acting weird but they won’t tell us anything and you’re all okay with that ?!

-We-

-No, let me speak !

-Seungkwan !

-LISTEN TO ME ! Chan woke up asking to talk to Junhui hyung alone. And they did. And then, Chan asked us to watch my favorite drama I planned to watch for days without telling anyone and asked for Jeonghan hyung’s hot chocolate when he was already planning on doing it ? And then the electricity thing ? How could you know about the power turning off ?!

-It was just a feeling..

-Oh yeah obviously and it was a feeling when we did this fucking-

-Language !”

Seungkwan glared at Seungcheol.

“This fucking game and you two were used to it ? Like you did it before ? And then you’re being all secret about this and we can’t even have an explanation ?”

Joshua tried to talk to calm him but he didn’t have the time to do so that Seungkwan was speaking again. 

“-And now no one is asking for an explanation ?!

-We trust them !

-Oh yeah, glad to hear that ! Weren’t we trusting Seungcheol hyung when he told us he was okay ? Glad we did, turned out he was suffering from anxiety and he took a break !”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to talk but didn’t.

“Weren’t we trusting Wonwoo hyung when he kept acting as if he was okay when in reality he needed to go to the hospital ? Weren’t we trusting Jeonghan hyung and Joshua hyung when they told us being a trainee wasn’t that hard, when in fact, they were planning to drop out because it was, indeed, too hard ?!”

No one talked. Joshua was shocked, Seungkwan was never like this. 

“-I have plenty of examples who showed us that trusting each other wasn’t always the good thing to do because we thought that lying was right ?

-Seungkwan..”

Seungkwan stood up and caught his coat. Soonyoung stood up too, worried.

“What are you doing ?”

Seungkwan walked to the garage’s door and opened it in a loud noise. He turned back to look at the others.

“I’m heading for a walk.”

Soonyoung took a step but Seungkwan scowled at him. 

“-Alone.

-But..

-I don’t care. I wanna be alone.”

He went out and before closing the door glared at everyone. 

“I’m coming back later.”

His eyes stayed on Seungcheol for a few seconds and then he spoke again, harshly.

“Trust me.”

Seungkwan closed the door and Joshua patted Hansol’s back.

“-Is he going to be okay ? Do I need to check on him ?

-You still want to check on him after his attitude ?

-Yeah, why ?

-He was a bit too harsh, Hansol.

-But don’t you see it’s his way to show he cares for you ? We trust Chan and Jun hyung, but given the situation, you can’t really blame him for being like this.

-But he should trust them.”

Hansol waited a few seconds before answering. 

“Sometimes caring for people means you don’t trust them because you know they should be honest instead.”

x

Seungkwan was sitting outside, under a big tree in a park. He was breathing hard, trying not to think about what just happened. Only an hour had passed since he left his members and they were probably thinking he was just being a bitch. To be honest, Seungkwan just wanted to come home and cry in Soonyoung’s arms. He tried to organize his thoughts and remember everything that had happened. 

When he left the garage, he wandered around. One of Seungkwan’s favorite quotes was ‘Not all those who wander are lost’ but in his case, he was lost. He had walked for fifteen minutes without paying attention to the surroundings, and he had found himself in front of a big residence and other people. Things happened and he had found himself hiding in a room from some people wearing a big rabbit mask.

He shivered. Just thinking about this was making him sick. 

Seungkwan had hurt the person wearing the rabbit mask. He had hit her, turned out it was just a normal girl like him, and had been the one pushing the buttons to end the game. 

He had almost killed someone. And then, he had seen her head exploding. Because of him. Great way to start the week. 

The sound of steps had him raised his head.

“-Irene ?

-Hi Seungkwan. Can I sit with you ?

-Yes, of course. 

-What are you doing ?

-I was thinking of the game.

-The rabbit mask was terrifying. 

-Yeah, don’t talk to me about it.”

They stayed in silence for a few minutes.

“-Are your members here too ?

-Yeah, everyone is here.

-And it wasn’t your first game, right ?

-Not really. I did one some hours ago. 

-Mmh, I see. Why were you alone ?

-Is that weird to be alone ? 

-Well, for you, yes. You’re always with Hansol or Soonyoung.”

Seungkwan bent his head. Irene smiled sadly.

“-What happened ?

-I fought with them.

-Why ?

-Because we’re a family and some members, two to be precise, are not honest with us. I’m worried for them. I’m scared. For everyone.

-Don’t you want to trust them ?

-I know trusting them means we’ll not ask for details, and I think them keeping secrets isn’t safe.”

Irene nodded and glared at Seungkwan’s shirt, covered in blood.

“-Want me to take you home ?

-If you’re okay with that..”

Irene stood up. She couldn’t resist Seungkwan’s puppy eyes.


	9. i’ll get hurt if i go closer to you but i’ll embrace you with my arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title of the chap from flower - seventeen
> 
> sorry for not updating sooner ! with everything happening i didn't really know what to do.... but here we we go

“-It’s been more than an hour ! 

-He is going to come back !

-No one takes a walk for an hour in these conditions..”

Seungcheol sighed and at the same time, a loud noise was heard. Everyone turned to look at the door. When Seungkwan and Irene appeared, Jeonghan screamed and ran to him. Seungkwan shivered at the touch but didn’t say anything. Seungcheol turned to Irene.

“-No offense but, what are you doing here ?

-I’m bringing back this little one to his home. His home is you by the way, guys.

-What happened ?

-Guess Seungkwan and I won three more days of VISA.

-What ?!”

Soonyoung turned to Seungkwan. He had blood on his shirt and scars on his hand. Jeonghan had pulled him against his chest but his eyes seemed so empty. 

“-We played a game.

-Why ?!

-We just did. We had to ran away from a girl wearing a rabbit mask and-

-You did the rabbit game ?!”

Irene looked at Chan, who had put his hands on his mouth, and frowned.

“-You know about the game ?

-Uh, no, not really, I just..”

She turned to Seungkwan. 

“-Is that why you left them earlier ?”

He just nodded, looking away. Irene frowned again.

“-You know things about the game but won’t say anything ? You know what Seungkwan did ? He saved everyone in the game. We saw the girl’s head exploding. He has her blood on his shirt.”

Jeonghan hugged Seungkwan. He looked at Irene.

“I know you want to stay mad at them, but I think you need that hug. And to stay with them. Even if I don’t support Chan and Jun for not saying anything when they got clues of what’s happening.. This is your home, isn’t it ?”

Seungkwan nodded and hugged Jeonghan tighter. Everyone ran to him but Seungcheol walked to Irene.

“Thank you for that. Thank you a lot.”

Irene nodded with a little smile.

“-No problems. Yeri is the same. We must take care of our maknaes, mmh?

-Yeah. Him, Hansol and Chan are literally best friends. It’s weird to see them in a fight.

-It happens sometimes. Doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.”

Irene winked at Seungcheol, left but before closing the door, she heard Seungkwan speak.

“Just because you’re hugging me and I’m hugging back doesn’t mean I forgive you !”

She smiled and walked away. Irene has her own place to go to.

  
  


x

  
  


Seungkwan couldn’t lie : being back with his members felt really good. He had been absent for less than two hours but it was already too much. He was glad to be back, and especially to be alive. 

But Seungkwan couldn’t lie about another thing : he was still a bit angry at Chan and Jun to keep secrets from them. He had decided to stay alone, reading a book in english with a dictionary near him. He hadn’t used a dictionary for years but it felt great to do something instead of just sleeping or eating. 

Hansol and Joshua were watching him from afar. 

“-He really seems weird.

-Since Irene had left he hasn’t really talked to any of us. 

-Do you think we should go and check on him ?

-We can try. I don’t like seeing him like this.”

Joshua nodded and the both of them walked to Seungkwan. He raised his head from his book, one of his hands still on the dictionary. 

“What do you guys want ?”

Joshua and Hansol exchanged a look before Hansol spoke.

“-Just wanted to check on you.

-Ah. I’m reading a book.

-Yeah, kinda saw it. What are you reading ?

-It’s called  _ Alice In Wonderland _ .”

Joshua’s eyes widened.

“-You’re reading it in english ?

-Yeah. I use the dictionary to search for the words I don’t know.

-Kwan, I’m so proud of you ! You’re making big progress reading in english ! The fans will love it !

-Yeah, if we survive enough to see them again.”

Hansol and Joshua, completely taken off guard, immediately stopped talking. Seungkwan didn’t seem bothered and went back into his book. The two left quietly and sat away. They remained silent until Wonwoo and Mingyu came and sat with them. 

“-So, we saw you talking with Seungkwan. What did he say ?

-Nothing special. He’s reading a book and..”

Hansol was interrupted by the sounds of people yelling. They turned and saw Seungkwan having an argument with Chan.

“-I can’t believe you have the audacity to talk to me ! 

-I want to know how you are !

-How am I ? Really ? How do you think am I ? Good ?!

-Why don’t you just speak to us ?!”

Everyone was now looking at the two, not sure if they should intervene. Seungkwan was still sitting on the floor with his book and, despite Chan standing, the oldest seemed more imposing. 

“-I don’t know. Why won’t YOU and Jun hyung speak to us ?

-Y- I- You know I-

-Yeah, don’t try to win on this argument. 

-But-

-I thought that we were a real family, not just a group. 

-Seungkwan I-, we are a family !

-Oh, are we ?”

Chan was sounding helpless, gesturing with his arms while trying to find the right thing to say. Seungkwan was sounding very angry and very calm at the same time.

“You want me to talk to you ? Okay. Why don’t you explain to us about the situation if you know something ? Can you even imagine what I had to go through in that game ? I’ll explain then. First, I was alone. I saw Irene but we only talked after the game. I had to run away from a horrible person wearing a big rabbit mask who had a gunshot. She killed a lot of people. We were supposed to find a safe zone but once I found it, it turned out there was another person here. She tried to kill me and I had to hit her because otherwise I would be the one dead ! I pushed the buttons because that’s what I was supposed to do. One of the two people was lying unconscious on the floor so I walked to her to take off her mask.”

Chan gasped. He knew what was coming.

“I kneeled in front of her and, right at this moment, the phone’s voice announced that we had won the game. And what happened to the loser ? Yeah, her fucking head exploded !”

Seokmin was trying to keep his sobs silent and to say that everyone was shocked was an euphemism. Chan couldn’t help but answer. Jun wanted to tell him to  _ shut up _ but he was paralyzed. 

“-You didn’t kill her ! It was you all or the two of them ! You had to do this..

-Yeah, next time maybe try to make sure you tell me that BEFORE the fucking game ?!”

Chan felt like crying and ran into Jihoon’s arms, sobbing. The oldest stroked his back, whispering sweet words in his ear. Minghao took Jun’s hand. 

Seungkwan walked to his couch and put the blanket above him. Hansol walked towards him and patted the other lightly. 

“Goodnight Seungkwan. I’ll keep a bowl of rice for you if you’re hungry during the night. Love you.”

Seungkwan hummed and Hansol left, a small fond smile on his face.

He was so in love with Boo Seungkwan. 

  
  


x

  
  


“We have to do something about this. It’s our second day and tomorrow night our VISA will end.”

Everyone was sitting on the floor in a circle, listening to Seungcheol. Joshua and Jeonghan were on his sides. Seokmin was playing with Joshua’s hand, anxiously. 

“-Does it mean we need to play another game ?

-I’m afraid it’s exactly what it means, yeah.

-Seungkwan has three more days though, so what will he do ?”

Everyone turned to Seungkwan, expecting him to get angry, but the other boy was looking at the ground, he wasn’t really listening. He hadn’t spoken to Chan since their fight. Nor Jun. Nor everyone minus Hansol. Wonwoo tapped Seungkwan’s arm and the other raised his head with a questioning face. Hansol spoke.

“-You have three more days than us. What do you want to do ?

-I don’t care.”

Seungcheol sighed and massaged his temples. 

“-You don’t care about what happens to us ?

-I don’t know, do Junhui hyung and Chan care ?

-Seungkwan !”

Minghao was angry. No one could treat his boyfriend this way.

“-Be careful of what you say !

-Oh yeah, go on and protect your boyfriend ! When he and Chan apparently know what’s going on but for some reasons won’t tell us !

-They have their own reasons and maybe it’s better like that ! Maybe they didn’t want to know and now they can’t tell us.

-Oh yeah, what about me ? Do you think I wanted what happened ? Do you think I wanted a fucking head exploding in my fucking hands ?!

-What ?

-Yeah, oh, I didn’t tell you, did I ? The head of the rabbit girl exploded in my hands.”

Seungkwan closed his eyes and shivered. The memory itself was horrible and it seemed that the scene was tattooed behind his eyelids.

“And now I still have some of her blood under my nails. Not that Chan and Junhui hyung care.”

Jun gasped. The honorifics in Seungkwan’s mouth was sounding like a death sentence. 

“Seungkwan..”

Seungkwan had kept his eyes closed and was hiccuping. Quiet tears were falling down on his face. Hansol, who was sitting next to him, sweetly wiped them away. Chan wanted to cry. He knew he couldn’t just speak about everything to the other, it just didn’t feel like a good thing to do. And revealing that Jun may be a dealer would kill him if it was true. Seungcheol sighed again and Jeonghan looked like crying. The three oldest were totally distraught seeing one of the youngest like this. Joshua tried to stand up but was pulled on the floor again by a clingy Seokmin. The boy, usually being the sunshine of the group, was shaking and Joshua hugged him tight. 

“-Seungkwan, why didn’t you tell us sooner ?”

He opened his eyes and Mingyu shivered. Despite being full of tears, his eyes were empty. 

“-Why would I have done that ? 

-To share your burden with us ?

-I lived what happened alone. I don’t want anyone to share my burden, I just want everyone to be healthy.

-But what happened was horrible. You don’t want to talk about this with us ?”

Seungkwan stayed silent for a moment. He really didn’t want to fight with his friends but he just couldn’t be kind all of sudden when some of them were hiding things from the others. He stood up, trying not to look into Hansol’s eyes. 

“-What are you doing ?

-I need to be alone.

-Why ?

-It’s my way to cope with trauma.

-But Kwan-

-Not now, Hansol. I’m sorry. Thank you for being here when I need to, but this time I need to be alone for real.”

Seungkwan walked to the door and Hansol tried not to cry. He didn’t want to let him go like this but part of him knew it was a choice he couldn’t go against. In front of the door, Seungkwan turned and looked at him.

“Love you Hansol. See you later.”

And then he left, without waiting for an answer. Hansol still answered even though Seungkwan couldn’t hear his answer.

“I love you too.”

  
  


x

  
  


“Are we sure about this ?”

Jun nodded. 

“What about Seungkwan ?”

Chan shrugged.

“-We don’t know when he’ll come back and we need a new VISA.

-Don’t worry Hansol, Seungkwan knows well we need to do another game. I don’t think he’ll be okay with doing another one now after what happened.”

Hansol nodded, unsure of the situation or what to say. Seungkwan has been gone for five hours and no one knew where he was. Pretty scary, if you had asked Hansol about this. 

Everyone walked for a bit before finding a neon light, shining on a storefront. 

  
  


_ Game arena, this way !  _

  
  


Chan gulped before feeling a hand on his back. Jihoon smiled at him and stroked his hair.

“It’s gonna be okay Channie, don’t worry too much, okay ?”

Chan nodded and took Jihoon’s hand, needing reassurance. Jihoon blushed a little and Soonyoung winked at him, grinning. They walked a little bit more and went down stairs, only to find themselves in front of a table with phones. Already used to it, they all took one.

  
  


_ Facial recognition in progress, please wait a moment. FACIAL RECOGNITION : COMPLETED. Please wait until the game commences. Two minutes until registration closes. _

  
  


“-Jihoon hyung, why are we only us ? 

-I don’t know. Maybe some people will come later.”

Chan nodded but he wasn’t convinced. They walked a bit towards the room of the game. There was a main room with another opened door. Inside of the other room was only a chandelier pending from the ceiling, slowly moving. In the main room were three big switches. Jun frowned. 

“-Why is there a big sheet covering one of the walls ?

-I don’t know but you shouldn’t touch that. Never know what can happen.

-You’re probably right.”

  
  


_ Tilt ! Registration has closed. The game will now commence. GAME : “LIGHT BULB”. Difficulty : Four of Diamonds.  _

  
  


“-Four as difficulty doesn’t seem that hard. It will probably be easy.”

  
  


_ Question. Which switch turns on the light bulb ? Rule number one. Only one switch among the A, B and C will turn on the light bulb. Rule number two. You only have one chance to flip a switch one the door is open. If the door is closed, you can flip the switches as much as you like. Rule number three. If someone is in the room, or if a switch has been turned on, the door will be locked in place and cannot be moved. You only have one chance to answer as a group. You need to give the right answer to clear the game. If the water level rises and touches the electrical wires, it’s game over.  _

  
  


“-What are they talking about ? There is no water and no electrical wires ?

-Uh, I don’t know.”

  
  


_ Please, take the sheet off the wall before you begin. _

  
  


Seungcheol walked towards the sheet and whacked it. Hansol screamed. In front of them was a transparent wall and behind, a small room. On the ceiling were electrical wires and there was around fifty centimeters of water on the floor. 

And, in the middle, was Seungkwan. He was on his knees, arms laying on the floor. He was breathing hard and his eyes were barely opened. Hansol ran to the wall and put his hand on it, crying.

“-Kwannie, Kwannie, it’s me, what happened ? Seungkwan, answer me, Seungkwan, Seungkwan-

-Hansol, stop, please, I don’t think he can hear you..”

Joshua pulled Hansol closer to him, trying not to break down too. Jeonghan yelled.

“-Is it a fucking joke ? What happened ?!

-The water level is slowly rising !”

Hansol was sobbing in Joshua’s arms, stretching his hand to touch the glass. Seokmin was holding onto Soonyoung. Chan turned to look at Jihoon. Minghao, Wonwoo and Jeonghan talked. 

“-We can only turn on the switch with the door open once. 

-But there’s no point in flipping the switches when the door is closed !

-Let’s just flip switch A with the door open !

-What if your answer is wrong ?

-If it turns on, it’s switch A ! If it doesn’t, it’s either B or C ! At least we have a 50 percent chance ! 

-It’s 66 percent. 

-Shouldn’t it be 50 though ?

-Ah, I don’t understand it at all !”

While they were talking, the water had continued to rise and was now at the level of Seungkwan’s chest. Seungkwan opened his eyes slowly like he was gaining some consciousness back. He blinked a few times and Hansol screamed.

“Seungkwan !”

Everyone turned to look at the other and Hansol pulled away from Joshua’s embrace, running to the glass wall.

“-Seungkwan, honey, Seungkwan I’m so sorry, we’re going to take you out of this, alright ?”

Seungkwan smiled sadly and nodded but everyone could see he didn’t believe any of that. Hansol cried harder, putting his hand on the glass. Seeing him like this broke Chan’s heart.

“-Just try to turn on one of the switches with the open door ! It will be one option less ! 

-But what if it’s not the right switch ? Then we’ll just have to guess !

-We can’t do that and bet Seungkwan’s life on chance !”

The water was now right under Seungkwan’s mouth. Chan tried to calculate. The first electrical ware was almost at the level of Seungkwan’s face but the other would not be able to hold his breath for a long time. Chan searched something in the room that could help him and his eyes land on a chair. At the same time, Hansol was yelling, breaking down in front of the wall. Half of them were sobbing. Seungkwan looked at Hansol and managed to smile. 

Everything happened really fast. Seungkwan put one of his hands on the glass and mouthed an ‘I love you all. I’m sorry.’ Hansol yelled while Joshua was pulling him away from the glass. The water raised up to Seungkwan’s nose and Seungkwan had to stop breathing. Seokmin yelled too. Chan didn’t think too much, caught the chair, and ran to the glass. Jun screamed and Chan hit the glass. The wall broke but at the same time, the water touched one of the electrical wares. 

“NO ! The water will electrocute them !”

Seungkwan’s body burst and he fell down on the floor, eyes opened but now lifeless. Someone screamed Chan’s name and Chan felt his body ache. 

Oh, yeah. The water.. a conductor of electricity. 

He has failed as saving his members, once again.

Chan could only hear Hansol’s sobs and Jihoon’s voice screaming for him before falling on the floor, dizzy. 

Then, everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave comments to tell me if u want a sad end or a happy end :)


End file.
